Kyubi and Jinchuriki: Brothers in Arms
by Nwandu225
Summary: After failing the Genin Exam for the second time, the Kyubi reaches out to Naruto in his moment of loathing and weakness. Offering the young Uzumaki a partnership that will benefit the both of them, watch the world be taken by storm as these two conquer earth-shattering challenges together. Powerful Naruto/Smarter Naruto/Darker Naruto/AU Affinities and Abilities/Not Team 7/NaruHina
1. A Powerful Duo is Forged

Co-Created by: Nwandu225 and oonyekaba

We do not own the rights to Naruto, all credit goes to Kishimoto.

 **Chapter 1: A Powerful Duo is Forged**

Konohagakure, better known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves is the headquarters for all shinobi affairs in the Land of Fire.

As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konohagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Hokage, of which there have been four in its history.

Konoha resides deep within a forest at the base of a mountain known as the Hokage Monument, which has the faces of all those who have taken the office of Hokage engraved on it.

Sitting on top of the head of the engraving of the Fourth Hokage is a young boy, around eleven years old, sporting spiky-blonde hair, clear blue eyes, whisker marks on his cheeks, and a garish orange jumpsuit.

This young boy is none other than Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's resident prankster and #1 knucklehead, hyperactive shinobi.

Normally, you would find Naruto defacing the Hokage Monument with rotten eggs and paint or laying booby traps at the Chunin barracks.

Today, however, the Uzumaki wore a serious and most importantly, depressed, expression on his face.

 _"Damn it. I am such a failure."_ thought Naruto, dejectedly.

Naruto was enrolled in Konoha's Ninja Academy, an institution that would teach the basic and rudimentary shinobi techniques and important facts of the shinobi world to the upcoming generations.

However, the boy had failed the genin exam for the second time. He tried hard to pull off at least a dead last graduation score, but he failed in every test.

Naruto vividly remembered the sad and disappointed look in Iruka-sensei's eyes when he had to tell the Uzumaki that he had failed once again, and could not and would not make an exception for the eleven year old boy.

 _"Well, at least I don't have to work with ninja older than I am."_ thought Naruto, trying to lift his spirits up, but failing.

The Uzumaki knew that if he failed to pass next year, he wouldn't even be paired with ninjas his age.

The Academy had a rule that stated that you had to become a genin before you turned thirteen years old, and if you didn't meet that deadline, you were dropped from the program.

Even still, it was a mystery to the instructors and other students why he still enrolled at the Academy.

Most people gave up after failing once, but he was determined to become a powerful ninja so he could become Hokage and get some respect from the villagers who despised him for some reason.

Now, however, the blonde haired boy could almost hear the laughter of all of the Academy instructors and villagers who scorned him and believed he would amount to nothing.

 _"Damn it all to hell, maybe I should just quit and save myself the trouble."_ thought Naruto, tears building in his eyes.

 **"Pathetic."** growled an ominous voice, seemingly out of nowhere.

Naruto, startled, jumped up and scanned the entire area looking for whoever said that.

"Come out and show yourself!" yelled Naruto, angrily.

The blonde thought it was some villager or classmate who came to pick on him because of his recent failure, but he was in no mood to deal with them like he usually did.

 **"There's nothing to show. After all, I am inside of you."** stated the ominous voice.

Beyond confused, Naruto tried to laugh this off.

"Inside me? Haha… very funny. My classmates just couldn't leave me alone, even after failing again. Whatever, it's not like I'm not used to them picking on me." said the Uzumaki.

" **... Funny?"** said the ominous voice.

Naruto could sense something was wrong. It was as if the voice was becoming more aggressive.

" **You think this is a joke?!"** continued the mysterious voice.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Naruto keeled over like he had been sucker-punched in the gut.

" **YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE!?"** roared the voice.

"AH PLEASE STOP! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! GAHH!" yelled Naruto in agony as an almost unholy pain shot through him.

" **SHUT UP DOBE! I can't believe these foolish humans put me in a meat puppet as worthless as you!"** growled the voice.

" **How do you expect to accomplish all that 'becoming Hokage bullshit' you constantly blab about, if you can even throw a kunai straight?! You are a weak-ass gaki and it would be amazing to find anyone or anything in this world that can redeem you! If only I could kill your ass I'd…."** began the voice.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" bellowed Naruto, having had enough of the Kyubi's rant.

"Who are you!? Why the hell are you insulting me like this?! What in the world did I do to you, huh? Just because I can't be a prodigal shinobi like that Sasuke-teme, you think you can just waltz in my mind and make me feel even more like worthless garbage?!" continued the enraged Uzumaki.

The Kyubi didn't respond, utterly stunned by the boy's infuriated reaction.

"Well, I don't remember inviting you to live inside me, so you can just get the hell out! You don't want to deal with me like the rest of this god-forsaken village, so just BUZZ OFF!" finished Naruto.

Naruto was way past the point of being angry.

The boy was absolutely livid.

Hot tears of pure frustration and rage rolled down his face as he recalled all of his past failures and crushed dreams.

Nothing but pure, unadulterated fury engulfed him as he was forced to hear, yet another, person point out his shortcomings.

A long pause came, and when the voice came again, Naruto was confused. Instead of angry, the voice seemed… pleased.

" **Hmm… kid, I like that anger of yours. It reminds me of someone… someone like me! Hehehehe!"** snickered the voice.

If it weren't for the fact that it was a seemingly disembodied voice speaking, you would think that it had a stupidly-large grin on its face.

" **So, I'm gonna cut you a deal."** said the voice.

"Oh, so you wanna help me now, huh? What could you offer me? Aren't I a worthless piece of meat that you got slapped inside of?" asked Naruto, skeptical.

" **Well... you still are pathetic, but now that's besides the point."** answered the voice.

"Well, I don't want to hear what you have to say, if you're gonna be like that." growled Naruto.

" **Not even if it'd get you one of them head-protectors?"** said the voice, dangling the bait.

Naruto froze in his tracks.

"A… a head-protector? HOW?! TELL ME! TELL ME!" yelled Naruto, incredulously.

The voice happily thought to itself, " _ **Hah! I've got this kid's attention now! Hook, line, and sinker."**_

" **Now hold on kid! Here's what I want to do. Right now, you are in no shape, mentally and physically, to be able to achieve a passing score on the Genin exam..."** began the voice.

Naruto nearly fell flat on his face after hearing that, "That's what you wanted to tell me? Gee, thanks."

" **Wait! Hold your horses! I'm not finished yet. Like I said earlier, I kind of like your style seeing your anger-fueled outburst earlier, and for that, I will take it upon myself to teach you how to fight in ways never seen before by those maggots in the village! I'll help you show them your worth, but for that to happen, you have to do one thing for me…"** said the voice, and the way the voice was talking, it was almost as if Naruto could feel the sneer.

"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked with extreme caution.

" **USE ME! It's been ages since I've had a fight! I need to do something with myself! Not only will it help you, it will allow me to have an at least competent jinchuriki."** answered the voice.

"Ok, first off. What the hell is a jinchuriki? Second. The hell do you mean 'Use Me'? That sounds really… weird. Most Importantly, WHO AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" yelled Naruto.

" **To answer your first question, a jinchuriki is a person who contains one of nine powerful engines of destruction, called bijus. These bijus are stored within these people's bodies, using various sealing techniques."** began the voice.

" **Secondly, when I meant 'Use Me', I meant use my overwhelming reservoir of chakra that is sealed inside of you. You literally have the greatest advantage over regular shinobi, because you can call on a literal 'ocean' of chakra that will most likely not dry up anytime soon."** continued the voice.

" **Finally, who am I… WHO AM I! Gaki, I don't know where the hell you've been, but I am none other than the being that is known as the bane of the shinobi world, the most powerful of the bijus, destroyer of villages, and wrecker of your shit…"** rambled the voice.

" _This thing really loves to hear itself talk."_ thought Naruto.

" **I am the Kyubi, the nine-tailed demon fox that laid waste to Konoha eleven years ago. Now fear my name and bask in the glory that you have been blessed with my power, Mwahahaha!"** gloated the Kyubi.

Naruto sat deadpanned for a few moments before replying, "I've never heard of you."

" **KYUBI SLAM!"** roared the nine-tailed fox.

All of a sudden, Naruto was sent flying into the nearest rock formation, before sliding to the ground like a ragdoll.

"OWW!" whined Naruto.

" **YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN, GAKI?!"** asked the Kyubi, angrily.

"I'm sorry, but I've really never heard of you before." said Naruto, rubbing the steaming lump on his head.

The Kyubi paused for a second, before silently fuming in its mind.

" _ **That damned old fart! He must have passed a law that forbids those who remember my attack on the village from telling the younger generations. Still, why doesn't Naruto at least know about me, or the fact that I am inside of him?"**_ thought the Kyubi.

"Um… Kyubi? Are you still there?" asked Naruto.

" _ **Well, it looks like I'll have to break the truth to him. In the end, it works out for me, more anger for him means him using more of my chakra."**_ thought the Kyubi with a smirk.

" **Yeah, yeah. I'm still here. So... are you gonna take the deal or not?"** asked the Kyubi.

"How can I trust you after throwing me into a rock?!" growled Naruto.

" **Did you just growl at me?"** snarled the Kyubi.

The young Uzumaki quickly removed the scowl on his face, lest he draw the ire of the Kyubi again and get thrown into another rock.

"No. I'll take the deal." squeaked Naruto.

" **Good… let's shake on it."** said the Kyubi.

Naruto's hand suddenly began to shake the other, much to the boy's bewilderment.

" **Alright, time for my favorite part, let's list all of the things that are wrong with you! Shoot kid, you tell me."** said the Kyubi, smirking.

"Ok… um… well... my taijutsu needs work…" began Naruto, before he was cut off by the Kyubi.

" **Hmph, that's an understatement. Kid, you fight like a sailor who's had 'a few too many' at the bar."** snorted the Kyubi.

"HEY!" yelled Naruto.

" **HEY YOURSELF! I'm just being honest. There's no point lying to yourself kid, it just makes the reality that much harder."** said the Kyubi.

"Brutally honest…" muttered Naruto.

" **Fair enough, but keep going."** replied the Kyubi.

"Ok, I guess my ninjutsu is not that great." continued Naruto.

" **More like nonexistent, however that's mostly my fault. But this is about you not me."** snickered the fox.

"Wait what?" asked Naruto, with an eyebrow raised.

" **Moving on…"** said the Kyubi, trying to change the subject.

"Now wait just a damn minute! The hell do you mean that my failure in ninjutsu is mostly your fault?" asked Naruto, a little miffed.

The Kyubi sighed, before answering.

" **Kid, because of me being sealed into you at such a young age, your chakra coils merged with mine, allowing my chakra to intermix with yours. What this did was exponentially increase your chakra pool, that by now exceeds even jonin-level shinobi."** said the Kyubi.

"Ok, but what does that have to do with my failure in ninjutsu?" asked Naruto.

" **Man, you are dense. What it means is that with your abysmal chakra control, you can't proportion the right amount of chakra to perform low-level ninja-art techniques like the Kawarimi (Substitution), Henge (Transformation), and especially the Bunshin (Clone) jutsu which are critical to you passing the Genin exam..."** began the Kyubi.

"You're… you're kidding me." gasped Naruto, in pure shock.

" **Unfortunately, I am not. Basically, the problem isn't that you don't have enough chakra to perform jutsus, it's that you have way too much chakra for your puny abilities to properly control, robbing you of the ability to perform said jutsus."** finished the Kyubi.

To say that Naruto was stunned was an understatement.

"So essentially, what you're saying is that the Genin exams' ninjutsu test is practically rigged against me?" asked Naruto, his annoyance level rising.

" **Yes."** answered the Kyubi.

Naruto face-palmed in pure annoyance and frustration at the revelation.

" _Fan-frigging-tastic, how the hell am I ever going to pass the Genin exam, with all of these odds against me?"_ thought the jinchuriki.

" **Moving on from ninjutsu, what else is wrong with you?"** asked the Kyubi, already knowing the answer, but wanting Naruto to point it out.

Not bothering to sugarcoat things anymore, Naruto replied, "My genjutsu abilities are pathetic."

" **Yes, but then again that is mostly my fault as well. Because of your abnormally large chakra pool, you will never have the precise control needed to cast them, so any thoughts of being a genjutsu specialist, forget them."** said the Kyubi.

"Well, that's not that terrible of news. Knowing how to perform genjutsus isn't required on the exam, it's only knowing how to dispel them and playing the genjutsu support role isn't my style." replied Naruto.

" **Mine neither. You and I would prefer the up-in-your-face berserker type role of constantly landing damage on your opponent, while shrugging off fatigue and damage because of the perks that come with being a jinchuriki."** said the Kyubi, to which Naruto nodded yes.

" **The good news with genjutsu though, is that shinobi can only cast lasting genjutsus on opponents with a weaker chakra level/control than their opponents. Since I am a biju, an immortal entity of enormous chakra, no shinobi alive can ever hope to put me under a genjutsu unless they have the aid of a dojutsu, and even still they'd have to be pretty skilled."** said the Kyubi.

"Ok, but what does that have to do with me?" asked Naruto.

" **Well gaki, a trained jinchuriki who has a good connection with their biju will get a lot of said biju's perks passed onto them. That means a resistance to genjutsu, not to mention me being able to warn you about an incoming one. In the possibility that you are placed under a genjutsu, your enormous chakra, if you can get enough control of it, will allow you to easily dispel one."** explained the Kyubi.

"Well that's… actually pretty awesome. At least I have some latent abilities." said Naruto, with a small grin forming on his face.

" **Well… those perks are all because of me, but sure you can think of it like that. Now continue, what else is wrong with you?"** asked the Kyubi.

"Oh… well, as you have said many times before, my chakra control is horrendous." said Naruto.

" **Oh sweet Jesus, Lord almighty may you help this dumbass! I know it's somewhat my fault, but DAMN KID YOU SUCK!"** said the Kyubi.

"HEY!" asked Naruto.

" **I'm sorry kid..but… but… god help us. This is gonna be a lot of work, but we should be able to improve upon your chakra control… I hope."** said the Kyubi.

"How?" asked Naruto.

" **Well, unlike you, I actually paid attention to the useful knowledge that Iruka-guy was teaching all of you gaki."** said the Kyubi.

"Wait… you were listening?" asked Naruto.

" **I am literally locked inside of a wet, metal cage inside your thick skull, what else am I supposed to do? I might as well learn something, and thanks to that, now I can re-teach you some of it to help fix your 'Fist of the Drunken Sailor' fighting style."** snickered the Kyubi.

"HE…!" began Naruto before the Kyubi cut him off.

" **If you say "HEY!" one more time, you're gonna get the shit 'Kyubi Slammed' outta you, got it gaki?"** asked the Kyubi threateningly.

Naruto grumbled but didn't reply, indicating that he got the Kyubi's message.

" **Good. Now go on, keep listing your faults."** said the Kyubi.

"My abilities in bukijutsu (shuriken and kunai techniques) are laughable." continued Naruto.

" **Mmm-hmm. Your main problem in that regard is that you have zero concentration skills, if you actually thought before you acted, you could analyze how to throw and handle those weapons properly, rather than launching them randomly. Continue."** said the Kyubi.

Naruto paused to think for a second about what else there was that he needed to improve upon before saying, "My physical abilities are average at best."

" **Yeah, but you at least have some positives. Thanks to me being your biju, your stamina levels are extremely high, which is why people think that you are so hyperactive, because you don't tire easily. Your movement speed and agility aren't terrible, we can work on that, and you can at least take a hit and stand back up..."** began the Kyubi.

"That's go-" began Naruto before he was interrupted by the Kyubi.

" **I'm not finished though, your strength level is absolutely pathetic, and it's because of your eating habits, you are extremely malnourished and because of that your growth has been stunted."** said the Kyubi.

"My eating habits?" asked Naruto.

" **Yes, you eat too much of those disgusting plastic cups filled with empty nutrients, that what-cha-ma-callit… oh yeah, Ramen."** said the Kyubi.

"Ramen! But Ramen is a gift from the gods! It's gold in food form, it's.. it's…" ranted Naruto, before the Kyubi cut him off.

" **EXTREMELY BAD FOR YOU! Now, I know you don't like vegetables, but you need them for your daily vitamins, and you need meat for protein! Thanks to you eating Ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday, you are a skinny, muscle-less shrimp who would keel over from malnourishment if it wasn't for my massive chakra that sustains you! No arguments on this, enough with the Ramen, or you'll stay weak forever!"** growled the Kyubi in annoyance.

Naruto whimpered for a couple of minutes before accepting that giving up his terrible eating habits would be for the best. Eventually, the blond jinchuriki nodded his head in agreement.

" **Good, we're almost done. You have listed six areas that need enormous improvement, if you ever want to become a better shinobi. However, you haven't stated the biggest impediment to your chances of becoming a genin."** said the Kyubi.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at what the Kyubi was getting at before furrowing his brows to concentrate on what improvement number 7 needed to be.

After a few minutes of heavy thinking, Naruto was becoming frustrated on what the Kyubi meant on his biggest impediment before something clicked in his head and the boy froze in shock.

Dozens… no hundreds of memories of Naruto playing his pranks on the villagers and shinobi, his constant outbursts of becoming Hokage to anyone nearby, his idiotic obsession over Sakura, his loud and obnoxious mannerisms, his tacky clothing style, his reluctance to apply himself in the Academy, and many more things all rushed through his head.

" **I have pulled out these specific memories from your mind to show you what I mean by your biggest impediment to becoming a genin. I hope you can put 'two and two' together."** said the Kyubi, solemnly.

Naruto's mind replayed the various memories over and over again and the boy sat in shock, completely disgusted by the way he acted in all of these instances.

" _This is what I act like, this is what people think of me?"_ thought Naruto, tears coming to the boy's cheeks.

Naruto fell to his hands and started sobbing softly, finally realizing what the Kyubi meant.

"The biggest impediment to me becoming a genin is… is… me. My personality is the fault, my entire way of life is a… joke." sobbed Naruto.

" _ **I have to tell him the reason that the villagers despise him now, while he's at his lowest point. This will test whether he has the mettle to endure anything that life throws at him, or if he isn't worth the time and effort."**_ thought the Kyubi.

" **Naruto, what you are seeing is probably very hard on you. But I have one more thing that I have to tell you. All these memories that I showed to you explains why the villagers see you as a nuisance, but the real reason that the village is because of me..."** began the Kyubi.

" **For centuries, my brethren and I wreaked havoc and devastation upon the shinobi and their pathetic villages. We killed their families. We torched their homes. We turned life into hell. It's gotten to the point where… where the villagers believe that the jinchuriki, people who should be hailed as heroes for holding the bijus at bay, are seen as the demons that are sealed within them."** finished the Kyubi.

"What?" asked Naruto, unable to understand the Kyubi's words.

" **Naruto..."** sighed the Kyubi, " **...they think you're me."**

Naruto could barely even speak.

"They think… I'm a demon?" asked Naruto, in a shocked whisper.

" **Even though it seems that the Third Hokage passed a law that forbids those from speaking about the Kyubi and to protect you from bodily harm. That law said nothing about them insulting you, scorning you, and hating you for holding me within you, and because of that, their children have grown up to have a jaded view against you, even though they don't know why they should… for all jinchuriki, this is how they live… as outcasts."** growled the Kyubi.

" **And your stupid, STUPID pranks didn't help the situation in any way. They thought since I was shoved in such a weak body, I couldn't create the destruction I truly wanted, so I had to resort to pranks. And believe me, if I could, I would remind those fools of why I am the most powerful of the biju. Even though I don't like you that much kid… I can't accept that my jinchuriki receives this much disrespect."** said the Kyubi, and while the demon fox spoke, Naruto felt somewhat closer to him. Even though the fox seemed to dislike his mannerisms, he was still looking out for him.

" _So I wasn't alone all this time. Even though he doesn't say it, the Kyubi does care for me."_ thought the boy, tears dropping from his eyes, but this time for joy.

"Alright..." began Naruto with a newfound perspective, "...it's about time that I stop being such a stupid punk. I have to change my ways… no I'm GOING to change my ways."

Naruto's statement and the aura of newfound determination that seemed to flow around the boy, actually surprised the Kyubi. But it was also the best thing he'd heard Naruto say this whole time.

" **No more pranks?"** asked the fox, who sounded like he was smirking.

"Never again." said Naruto, while wiping away his tears.

" **Well… maybe every once in a while… my god. Imagine, a great demon like me wanting to throw pies and blow up classrooms. How far I have fallen…"** muttered the Kyubi, and for a second, Naruto thought he heard heard a low chuckle.

" **Now. One last thing."** said the Kyubi, seemingly returning to his serious mannerism.

"Fire away." said Naruto, eager to hear his final flaw.

" **The jumpsuit. You gotta get rid of that thing."** said the Kyubi.

"My jumpsuit?! You've gotta be kidding me! What's so bad about it? Its served me pretty well these past couple years!" asked Naruto, defensively.

" **Boy! That thing not only provides ZERO protection, it also turns you into a WALKING, FUCKING NEON LIGHT! A ninja literally couldn't ask for a bigger bulls-eye! Man, your jumpsuit is so bright, a blind man could huck a kunai and hit you right in the Uzumaki symbol. Take. It. Off."** growled the Kyubi, and in no way was he kidding, Naruto could hear the seriousness in his growls.

"UUUUUGGGHHHHHH! Do I really have to? Can't we just paint it black or something?" bargained Naruto.

Try as he might though, the Kyubi was unshakable. He was like the headstrong, stubborn mother that Naruto never had.

"Ok… ok… we'll do it." said Naruto, defeated.

" **Good, now listen up. Naruto, the whole world is against us. Not just you and I, but for the other eight jinchuriki and biju pairs. The world tries to put us down because they fear our power. They forget about the men or women who risk themselves to protect their own people. Naruto, I was sealed inside of you when you were a baby and yet they still hate you. The innocence of a child couldn't soften their hearts. But that shouldn't matter to us. Naruto, what I want for you more than anything is for you to live for yourself. It doesn't matter what people think of you. You are your own man, gaki. You should live your life the way you want and prove to them your self worth. Now, are we gonna do this or not?"** asked the Kyubi, with a wide smirk on his face.

Suddenly, Naruto was standing, shin-deep in water, inside of a massive chamber. Before him stood an enormous cage, and sitting behind those bars, Naruto laid eyes on the Kyubi for the first time.

The Demon Fox was massive, about half the size of the Hokage Monument. His slit, red eyes glowed with a wrath that made anything else pale in comparison.

The Kyubi's lower body was of the same structure as a normal fox's, but his upper body was reminiscent of a muscular human's, while his arms had opposable thumbs. Garbed in reddish-orange fur, nine massive tails swayed from his rear around the cage.

" **So Naruto, I will ask you again. Are we gonna do this or not?!"** asked the Kyubi, raising his fist in preparation.

"I'm done being hated. I'm going to change this village and its twisted views. The oppression against the jinchuriki will be ended. I'm going to make it so that the jinchuriki of the present and the future will be revered, honored, and hailed as the heroes that they should be. I will become Hokage. Not for the petty recognition that I craved earlier, but for justice." said Naruto, before raising his fist as well and bumping it with the Kyubi's.

And with the bumping of these two fists, the most powerful duo in the history of Konoha was born.

" **All right, partner. First order of business is to get rid of the jumpsuit and get some training gear."** said the Kyubi, removing his hand from the fist bump.

" _Damn it, I thought I would at least be able to keep it for the rest of the day. Wait, I know what to do."_ thought Naruto.

"Um… we can't Kyubi. I'm broke and the only place in Konoha that will sell me gear is Higurashi's, and their stuff is expensive." said Naruto.

" **Liar. Kid, you can't hide anything from me. I know you have a secret stash of money under your mattress that you were going to use to build your 'ultimate prank' idea."** said the Kyubi, with a bit of humor.

Naruto gasped, before snapping his fingers in defeat, " _I'm not giving up without a fight, though."_

" **Speaking of which, how much did you save since I've never bothered to count the amount."** asked the Kyubi.

"Um… I think about a little over 50,000 ryo." said Naruto, scratching his head.

" **50,000 RYO?! Why the hell do you still live in that dump of an apartment if you have that much? Don't tell me that you are so much of a dobe that you thought your pranking supplies are more important than your living quarters?"** asked the Kyubi in shock.

"No, that's not it at all. At first I tried saving up for a new home, but since nearly every villager in Konoha hates me, no one would even sell me a nicer apartment. Hence why I decided to save it for pranking supplies." answered Naruto.

The Kyubi grunted in understanding, before returning Naruto to the real world.

" **Ok, now let's go back home to grab the money and head over to that Higurashi's place."** said the Kyubi, but Naruto stood still.

" **What are you doing, gaki? Move already!"** barked the Kyubi.

"I don't wanna." whined Naruto.

" **Oh for the love of god!"** growled the Kyubi in exasperation with the boy's stubbornness.

The Kyubi took control of the Uzumaki's legs and forced the boy to move, but that didn't stop Naruto from struggling stubbornly.

(One hour later…)

One, long, grueling hour later, the Kyubi was finally able to make Naruto grab all of his saved up money from the house and force him to the Higurashi Weapons store.

Higurashi Weapons was a small, rundown looking shop at the end of the market district. According to the wooden sign hanging above the door, they had been serving Konoha since the founding of the village.

Naruto was struggling with all of his might to keep himself from entering the front door of Higurashi Weapons, but the Kyubi was making progress, if only inch by inch.

" **GET. IN. THE. DAMN. STORE!"** growled the Kyubi.

"No! I DON'T WANNA!" argued Naruto, using his arms to push against the building, keeping himself away from the door.

" **OH MY GOD! That's it! Enough of this bullcrap! KYUBI SLAM!"** roared the demon fox, before sending the boy flying through the door, onto the floor beside the front counter.

Thanks to the Kyubi's actions, the door swung open wildly and slammed against the wall, before closing shut with a loud noise. A bell that was triggered with the opening of the door rang loudly, alerting the shopkeeper.

"Be with you in a second, but please hold off on destroying my door, thank you." called out a gruff voice from the back of the store.

"I f-ing hate you, Kyubi." growled Naruto, rubbing his face.

" **I love you too, gaki. Now get up and take a look around while we wait."** retorted the Kyubi.

Naruto got up from the floor and took a look around the store, and the boy was amazed by what he saw. Despite the store's unassuming exterior, the interior was a veritable cornucopia of weapons, armor and apparel, scrolls, training weights, etc.

"Wow. This place has everything." gasped Naruto in awe.

" **See? It's not so bad, you'll eventually forget all about this orange jumpsuit."** said the Kyubi.

"Yeah, well let's see if this guy actually gives me service, or kicks me to the curb like the others." said Naruto, preparing for the worst.

The shopkeeper soon walked out of the back room carrying a large box of ninja supplies and set it on the counter before addressing Naruto.

"Now, what can I do for you?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Um… I'd like to see your selection on… well practically everything, weapons, a new outfit, scrolls, you know the whole works." asked Naruto, wondering what the man's reaction would be.

"It's a good thing you came here then. Seeing the crap you're wearing now, it's looks like you're here to really shop." said the shopkeeper.

" **Told you what your wearing is garbage."** snickered the Kyubi.

"Shut up, Kyubi." retorted Naruto, mentally.

"Thank you, so what's the best you have in store for me?" asked Naruto, to the shopkeeper.

"That depends, how much do you have to spend?" asked the shopkeeper.

"About 50,000 ryo." answered Naruto, a bit saddened about giving up his prank supply money.

The man's jaw dropped.

"Fa… fafa… fafafa...50,000? We… well that'll get you a whole load of stuff. Follow me and we'll get you some serviceable gear." said the shopkeeper.

"Works for me." answered Naruto, beginning to relax around the man.

Naruto took a moment to study the shopkeeper as he trundled through the narrow aisles. He was a large man, easily double the size of Naruto. He had a large stomach, but his arms were as thick as tree branches, consisting of pure muscle.

"Here we are." said the shopkeeper as he grabbed various clothing apparel from hangars in the shelves.

"What about this?" asked the shopkeeper as he tossed Naruto a sleeveless jacket.

Naruto scrambled to catch the clothing apparel and felt the rugged texture of chain mesh when he caught it.

"A dark crimson and black, lightly armored combat jacket. The jacket has shoulder pads and a tall collar, as well as being lined with thick cloth and chain mesh, giving you decent protection from blades and explosions without losing mobility." said the shopkeeper.

"Awesome, I'll take it." said Naruto, happily.

"Next, we have white medical wrapping, black finger-less gloves with a metal back-plate, and crimson and black forearm guards to protect the arms." said the shopkeeper, handing the Uzumaki said items.

"Great, put it in the tab." said Naruto with a grin.

"Then, we have black, lightly armored ankle-length pants, made the same way as the jacket. Crimson and black shin guards, and black sandals that improve traction, mobility, and stealth." said the shopkeeper.

"Perfect." said Naruto, grabbing the new apparel.

"Ok, now let's get you some weapons and supplies." said the shopkeeper, before returning to the front counter.

Naruto dropped all of the clothing he was going to buy on the counter, and watched attentively as the man grabbed a grey kunai pouch and black backpack, before filling them with various supplies that were essential for shinobi.

"Ok, here is a standard genin kunai and shuriken pouch and I have taken the liberty to stock it fully with a dozen kunai, fifty shuriken, ten mini-smoke bombs, and several exploding tags. Inside the backpack are all the utilities that you would ever need as a genin, cloaks for either hot or cold climates, a tent, a sleeping bag, and an extra stock of fifty kunai, two-hundred shuriken, forty mini-smoke bombs, and two dozen exploding tags." said the shopkeeper, laying all of the equipment on the table.

Naruto could only stare at all of the awesome equipment that was right in front of him. The Uzumaki couldn't believe how much he was missing out on, already he would become stronger just by actually having standard equipment.

"Sweet! One last thing though, do you happen to have beginner through advanced-level academy taijutsu scrolls, academy ninjutsu scrolls, and chakra control exercise scrolls?" asked Naruto.

"Let me check in the back." replied the shopkeeper, before going to check.

Naruto waited patiently at the counter, twiddling his thumbs, until the shopkeeper came back a few minutes later carrying several scrolls.

"You're just in luck, a new shipment just came in this week. You know, you're one of the first academy students in a while to actually apply themselves and come here to get some good shinobi gear." said the shopkeeper, while putting the scrolls inside of the backpack.

" _Really now?"_ thought Naruto, feeling a little prideful. At least he wasn't always the dead last in anything that had to do with being a shinobi.

"So anything else?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Nope, you've been great. Do you have a changing room, by chance?" asked Naruto.

"Yep, it's at the far left corner." replied the shopkeeper.

Naruto nodded his thanks before heading into the small cubicle with a curtain that shielded the changing person from prying eyes.

When the blond-haired Uzumaki exited the changing room, it would nearly be impossible to recognize him. The new change in outfit made Naruto look like a true shinobi, not to mention it was stylish.

The black and crimson color scheme didn't make him stand out like a sore thumb, not to mention that the clothes actually fit him rather than being too big or too small.

"Looking good kiddo, how do you like it?" asked the shopkeeper, with an impressed whistle.

"It's amazing, I'll take it. So how much does this all come to?" asked Naruto.

"Let's see…" trailed off the shopkeeper as he tallied up the prices for all the equipment Naruto was buying.

"Around… 45,000 ryo." said the man, with a smile.

A moment of silence followed.

"I'm sorry… can you repeat that again?" asked Naruto, with a confused expression.

"The price is 45,000 ryo." repeated the shopkeeper, with a sincere expression.

"Fa… fafa…. fafafa...45,000?! WHAT IN THE HELL! WHYYYYY?" yelled Naruto, nearly ripping his hair out.

" **DAMN! 45,000 ryo?! Now that's some evil right there that I can respect!"** laughed the Kyubi, seemingly mesmerized by the excellent display of 'highway robbery'.

"45,000 ryo… that bastard just ruined me… I'm practically broke, I've got zilch, nada, nothing'?" cried Naruto, comedic tears flowing from the jinchuriki's eyes while he paid the shopkeeper.

From paying the shopkeeper to exiting the weapon's store, the Kyubi was howling like a madman. Naruto could imagine the demon fox rolling all over his cage in laughter, kicking his legs wildly.

"Shut up Kyubi… that was horrible." growled Naruto. The blonde-haired boy was as pale as a ghost ever since they left Higurashi's.

" **I'm sorry..."** cried the demon fox.

" **It's… it's just so beautiful! It's been awhile since I've seen someone pull off a scam like that… I've been trapped inside jinchurikis for so long that I've forgotten how hilarious the methods humans use to con each other out of money are."** said the Kyubi, much to Naruto's chagrin.

" **Anyway, I have to say kid, you're looking good! I told you that jumpsuit was trash!"** said the Kyubi, as he admired Naruto's change in wardrobe.

" _I do look pretty good, don't I? With this, I can actually fix my problems with stealth and everything. Like the Kyubi said, that jumpsuit made me a walking target. However, that still doesn't change the fact about my financial situation."_ thought Naruto.

"Don't try to flatter me, Kyubi. What are we supposed to do now with only 5,000 ryo?" asked Naruto.

" **Aww… don't worry so much, gaki! All he did was rob you blind! You still have some money left. Now you're just… more poor. As I've said before, you need meat and some veggies. Your skinny as hell and you need some protein to help your small-ass grow."** said the Kyubi, flatly.

"You just always have to make fun of me, don't you?" whined Naruto.

" **Yes."** answered the demon fox, smirking.

" **I have one question though. How can you even complain about money? Doesn't the Third Hokage give you an allowance every month?** asked the Kyubi.

"Yeah he does but, because of my pranks, he's been lowering my allowance to punish me." said Naruto, causing the Kyubi to face-palm in shock.

" **KYUBI SLAM!"** roared the Kyubi.

The comedic attack sent Naruto flying into and crashing through a wooden fence, along the alleys of Konoha.

" **WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, GAKI?! Are you physically unable to not ruin everything you have going for you?! My god…"** groaned the biju in annoyance.

"HEY! That fence is public property, I can get in trouble for destroying that! You better help me fix it!" yelled Naruto.

" **HELL NO! YOU DESERVE THAT! FIX IT YOURSELF!"** retorted the Kyubi.

"But… but... the villagers will blame it on me!" cried Naruto.

" **Since when do you care about the villagers blaming stuff on you?!** **You know what? Whatever. Let's just get to the damn grocery store before it closes.** " said the Kyubi.

"Yeah, about that. The people at the grocery store most definitely hate me, due to prejudice and my retaliatory pranking sprees against them. I doubt I'll be able to even enter the store." said Naruto.

" **Leave it to me."** replied the Kyubi.

The two made their way to the grocery store, and thanks to the well placed 'Kyubi Slam', they didn't have to walk too far. The duo made it maybe ten minutes before the grocery store closed for the night.

"Alright, Kyubi. How are we gonna do this? I'm all ears." asked Naruto.

" **Give me control of your arms and legs."** ordered the Kyubi.

"Ummmm… wha-..." began Naruto, before it all happened in a flash.

In an instant, before the Uzumaki could even finish his sentence, the demon fox sent him blitzing through the aisles of the store, grabbing various items of food off the shelves and shoving them in dozens of grocery bags.

Then, the Kyubi-controlled Naruto rushed out of the door into the night, but not before dropping a couple thousand ryo on the counter, to pay for the groceries.

The clerk, who was counting ceiling tiles while waiting for closing time, was caught off guard by the Kyubi-controlled Naruto blitzing through the door, and fell on the floor, missing the events that transpired, and only getting up in time to see the money left on the counter by the mysterious shopper.

"Wow, Kyubi. That was amazing!" laughed Naruto, as the Kyubi helped Naruto, who was carrying two dozen bags of groceries in his arms, speed through the village back to his apartment.

" **That's right, gaki! There's no task too difficult for me to figure out, now let's get some shut eye, so we can begin training tomorrow."** said the Kyubi, smirking in enjoyment.

Messing with humans was a very fun pastime, he could see why Naruto enjoyed pranking so much, though the Kyubi would never admit it.

"Right." agreed Naruto, grinning deviously.

The Uzumaki had such a life changing encounter today. Just when it seemed that all was lost, and that he might as well give up his dream of becoming a great shinobi and eventually Hokage, the Kyubi appeared and gave him a new perspective on life.

Konoha better be ready, because the shinobi world's most powerful duo has been born, and they are ready to fuck shit up.


	2. Survive! The Kyubi's Training

Co-Created by: Nwandu225 and oonyekaba

We do not own the rights to Naruto, all credit goes to Kishimoto.

 **A/N (Nwandu225): Sorry for the long wait, I promise you two-week updates are not the norm, I just had very little inspiration for the training sequences in this chapter and the constraints of my job. But thanks to MRAY 4 THE WIN's story "Breaking Limits" and other fanfic authors' stories for Naruto, I got my mojo back. So, sit back and enjoy. Reviews and Comments are wanted and needed!**

 **Chapter 2: Survive! The Kyubi's Training**

" **Wake up, gaki. It's time for training."** said the Kyubi, waking from its slumber.

However, Naruto didn't respond to the Kyubi's wake up call, an unfortunate mistake.

" **Wake up."** repeated the Kyubi, but the demon fox still did not receive an answer from the Uzumaki.

" **Get. Up."** growled the Kyubi, losing its patience, but still Naruto did not answer.

" **WAKE THE FUCK UP, GAKI! I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS! GO! GO! GO!"** roared the Kyubi, inside of Naruto's mind.

The young Uzumaki woke up in a frightened jolt, with sweat beads flowing down his forehead. Naruto checked his surroundings for a few moments, before remembering what had occurred yesterday, what he was, and who lives inside of him.

Rubbing his eyes to help them focus, the blonde realized that the sun hadn't risen completely yet. Growling, he turned to his alarm clock and saw bold, red numbers that displayed 4:15 AM.

"Really, Kyubi? For what purpose of training does waking me up at quarter past four serve?" asked the sleepy Uzumaki.

" **Well gaki, we've got a lot of stuff to cover, so I want to begin your training promptly at 5 AM every morning, for the next three months until the Academy starts up again. Now, get out of bed and do your morning routine."** said the Kyubi.

"Ugggghhhh…." groaned Naruto, while lifting his bed covers and lazily sliding out of his somewhat comfortable mattress.

Naruto hopped into the shower and thoroughly scrubbed his entire body, ridding himself of any dirt or impurities. Then he dried himself and equipped all of his new gear that he bought from Higurashi Weapons.

" **Now it's time for you to eat a HEALTHY breakfast."** said the Kyubi, emphasizing on the word healthy.

Naruto paled when he heard the h-word, but he did not argue, knowing it was for the best and wanting to avoid being 'Kyubi Slammed' again.

The Uzumaki walked into his kitchen and opened the refrigerator, which was stocked with unspoiled and nutritious ingredients thanks to his hit and run shopping endeavor at the grocery store.

"So… what's for breakfast?" asked Naruto, with a grimace.

" **Hmm… grab the eggs, some sausage, and a couple of tomatoes. Then… get some bananas, strawberries, milk, and yogurt. And finally… get the bread and some jam."** said the Kyubi.

Naruto did as ordered and placed all of the ingredients on the kitchen counter, near the sink.

"Now what?" asked Naruto.

" **Start up the stove and fill the pan with the oil we bought. Crack the eggs, chop up the sausage and tomatoes and put it in the pan before the egg solidifies."** said the Kyubi.

Naruto followed the instructions and soon a savory aroma filled the air of the kitchen because of the cooking of the omelet.

" **While that's cooking, toast the bread and then bring out the blender."** said the Kyubi, to which Naruto complied.

" **Now, chop up the bananas and strawberries and dump them in, followed by the yogurt and milk, and then press blend."** said the Kyubi, to which Naruto complied.

The Uzumaki returned to the stove, grabbed a spatula and flipped the omelet to cook the other side, before hearing the familiar ding of the toaster.

Naruto went about spreading jam on the toast, then he turned off the blender and poured its contents into a glass.

Finally, the omelet was ready and Naruto placed the main breakfast dish on a plate, before seating himself at the breakfast table.

" **See? Doesn't all of this make your stomach grumble. You can eat healthy and still have a delicious meal, rather than eating Ramen all day long."** said the Kyubi.

" _This actually does look good."_ thought Naruto, before grabbing a fork and digging into the omelet.

Ten minutes later, Naruto leaned backwards against his chair and gave a content sigh, gracious for the meal.

"So, which training field are we going to?" asked Naruto.

" **Ha! As if we need those over-sized playgrounds for a training environment."** boasted the Kyubi.

"Come again?" asked Naruto, baffled.

" **We're gonna train using your mind."** clarified the Kyubi.

"Hehehe… HAHAHAHA! You're out of your mind Kyubi, I didn't know that bijus knew how to tell jokes." laughed Naruto, not believing a word the demon fox said.

Annoyed that the brat wasn't taking him seriously, the Kyubi used his signature technique to send the boy flying into the kitchen cupboards.

"What the hell is your problem, Kyubi?" growled Naruto, rubbing the bump on his head for the umpteenth time.

" **You're the problem, dumbass. Do you think I am joking? I said we are going to utilize mental training."** snarled the Kyubi.

"Ok then, tell me how the hell were going to do this, and how it's supposed to make me a better shinobi?" asked Naruto, trying to take the Kyubi seriously, for his health.

" **First, find a comfortable position, because your physical body isn't going to be moving for a long while."** said the Kyubi.

Nodding his head, Naruto headed back into his bedroom, and sat Indian style on his mattress.

" **Now, assume a meditation pose and close your eyes, you need complete concentration to be able to perform what we're about to do."** said the Kyubi.

Shaking his head in wonder, the Uzumaki did what he was told. At first, nothing happened, but then black void that was present due to one closing their eyes, because to spin rapidly until Naruto was face to face with the Kyubi, once again.

"Whoa. We're back here again?" asked Naruto.

" **Yes, we are in your mindscape, a parallel universe inside of your subconscious that was created by the sealing technique that binds me within you."** explained the Kyubi.

"Ok, this mental training idea of yours makes more sense now, but I sense two problems. One, you are still trapped in your cage, and two, this watery and cramped prison isn't the ideal setting for training." said Naruto.

" **Well, if you really want this training to work, you're are going to have to release me from my prison, by undoing the restraint part of the seal."** said the Kyubi.

Dead silence.

Naruto was completely taken off guard by the Kyubi's request, and tried to contemplate the consequences of his next action. If he agreed, he would set free the most powerful and dangerous biju in existence, one that could possibly kill him and take over his body, before wreaking havoc on Konoha again.

Now, the normally obvious answer would be HELL NO, but Naruto realized that if he didn't take the Kyubi up on his request, what would he do?

The Kyubi was offering to train him so he could achieve his lifelong goal of becoming Hokage, which would enable him to end the hatred against jinchuriki. If he didn't accept the Kyubi's request, he would most likely fail out of the academy again and his ninja career would end right there.

Plus, the Kyubi is the first person, or being, that gave a damn about him AND is actively trying to help him, unlike the Third Hokage and Iruka. Deep down in his heart, Naruto felt as if the demon fox truly wanted to help him and this was the only way to make that possible.

"Ok, how do I undo the restraining seal?" asked Naruto, after a few minutes of silence.

" **On your abdomen is a spiral tattoo, focus some chakra on your fingertips and twist your stomach in the counterclockwise direction."** said the Kyubi, amazed that the Uzumaki agreed to his request.

Naruto proceeded to do as the Kyubi instructed and after a few moments of the lock on the Kyubi's prison dismantling itself, the door swung open slowly.

"Alright Kyubi, let's get some training done." said Naruto, with a large grin on his face.

Now THIS was the moment of truth for the Kyubi. The bijuu could easily dispose of the weak child in a heartbeat and pursue his revenge against Konoha for sealing him. However, there were two things that rang in his head telling him not to.

The first, was that if he took control of Naruto's body, every ninja within Konoha would immediately sense it and would rush to the scene. Even if he did take the vast majority with him, eventually he would either be re-sealed or temporarily destroyed and unable to reform for several years.

The second, was that Naruto ACTUALLY trusted him of all people enough to set him free even though he could kill the boy in a heartbeat. It spoke volumes about the gaki's character and it wouldn't sit right with the Kyubi if he betrayed him like so.

" _ **No, we fist-bumped and I intend to protect this partnership with all my might."**_ thought the Kyubi.

" **Yeah, let's do this kid."** said the Kyubi, with a smirk.

"Now, about this mental training. Can we change this cramped and dreary landscape and how will mental training benefit me?" asked Naruto.

" **First, let's change the scenery a bit shall we?"** said the Kyubi, before entering deep silence.

After a few seconds, the Kyubi had changed the environment into massive grassland that dwarfed even himself. Mountain ranges painted the backdrop, while trees and rocks varying heavily in size dotted the landscape, and a river connected into a waterfall, which ran into a large pond.

"Wow! How did you do that?!" asked Naruto, incredulously.

" **Remember kid, this mindscape is a universe created by the seal within YOUR subconscious, your imagination is in control here. Also, since I'm bonded within you because of this sealing technique, I have imaginative control over your mindscape as well."** explained the Kyubi.

The boy stared at the biju, mesmerized.

"That's… that's amazing! You really have full control over this mindscape?! What else can you do with the mindscape? How long does it last?" asked Naruto, bombarding the Kyubi with questions.

" **Ok gaki, before we start, there are drawbacks to this ability that you should know. First, only the combined might of a biju and a jinchuriki can perform mental training due to the requirements of a sealing jutsu, massive chakra reserves, and expert chakra control. If a non-jinchuriki were to try, they'd either kill themselves from chakra exhaustion or trap themselves in their own minds. And since you have the chakra control of a retarded eleven year old, you are to NEVER try and do this without my permission, you understand?"** said the Kyubi.

"Gotcha." replied Naruto.

" **Ok second, this training has some drawbacks to your mental functions, when you utilize it for extended periods of time. After finishing a session of mental training, you'll have trouble with your thought processing and a bit of impaired hearing and sight. Luckily, thanks to your accelerated healing rate due to my chakra, I will personally guarantee that you only need a good night's sleep to recover. But, that doesn't mean I'm not going to push you to the limit of this ability, I just wanted you to know."** explained the Kyubi, with a slight smirk.

"Ok, but why is mental training superior to physical training?" asked Naruto.

" **Well gaki, the effectiveness of training can be boosted if you have training equipment and an environment that lets you practice any kind of skill necessary as a ninja. In this mindscape, I can imagine anything that you could possibly need to enhance your training, that you would otherwise have to buy from the store or scour the village to utilize. Another advantage is that we don't have to waste time to find a serviceable training field, and if you're outside of Konoha on a mission, you can utilize this training anytime you can sit down and concentrate. Also, it'll keep anything and anyone from spying on or disturbing your training, since to the unknowing eye you appear to be in the middle of a meditating exercise. Most importantly however, since this is MENTAL training, while your physical body gains all of the experience and physical conditioning that you gained from a session, you don't suffer from the stress and soreness that your body has accrued."** explained the Kyubi.

"So I can push my mental body farther during training and I get no physical drawbacks after? Awesome! I'm going to get super-strong really quick!" cheered Naruto.

While the boy was cheering, the Kyubi was laughing on the inside. Naruto had no fucking clue, what the Kyubi was going to put him through, that is mentally. Yes, the benefits would make Naruto massively superior to his classmates, but he'll suffer mental hell before he got to that level.

" **Now, before we begin, I want you to strip down to your combat pants."** said the Kyubi, in a completely serious tone.

"Um…" began Naruto, a bit weirded out by the Kyubi's request.

" **The purpose of this is to strengthen the durability of your body by subjecting it to the elements around you."** answered the Kyubi, expecting Naruto's reaction.

"Ok, then." said Naruto, complying.

After taking off everything, save for his pants, and folding them in a neat pile next to his travel backpack and kunai pouch, the blonde Uzumaki sat Indian-style on the soft grass. He was ready for the Kyubi to begin his training, one that would transform him from a knucklehead dobe, into a powerful fighting machine.

"I'm ready. Let's begin." said Naruto.

" **All right, maggot! Welcome to boot camp! I'm here to break you, then fix you, then break you again! I will re-shape you in my image, hehehe."** snickered the Kyubi, much to Naruto's dismay.

" **Here's the plan! For the next three months until the Academy starts up in the fall, you will perform mental training from 5 AM until about 11 or 12 in the night."** began the Kyubi, to which Naruto nodded.

" **Before I even begin to correct your many flaws in all of jutsu categories, we have to condition your body to the highest degree, improving your five basic physical attributes: strength, speed, stamina, durability, and dexterity (flexibility, agility, hand-eye coordination, and evasive maneuvers)."** continued the Kyubi.

" **Once that has been completed, then we will work on refining your pathetic taijutsu skills and teach you the proper academy forms. Improve your abysmal chakra control which in turn will enable you perform the academy ninjutsu. Increase your accuracy in throwing shuriken and kunai, along with teaching you the proper way to utilize kunai in combat. Then, finally teach you how to detect and dispel opposing genjutsu."** finished the Kyubi.

"What happens after that?" asked Naruto, curiously.

" **Then, I can teach you the cool stuff."** said the Kyubi, with a smirk.

Naruto nodded in agreement as he remembered all his failures in the past two genin exams. This was his last chance. He could not screw this up for any reason.

"What's the first exercise?" asked Naruto, getting pumped.

Naruto would soon find the Kyubi's training to be anything but merciful, the biju's methods would push the young Uzumaki to his mental and physical limits. Not to mention the Kyubi used painful and sadistic methods to punish the boy if he complained or rested in any way, shape, or form.

The biju split Naruto's physical conditioning training into six categories: aerobic, arms, core, legs, flexibility, and acrobatics.

For the aerobics workout, the Kyubi had Naruto start out with a 10 mile run with a set time of one hour to complete it in.

The incentive that pushed Naruto to go faster was… well…

" **RUN FASTER!"** roared the Kyubi, while he chucked massive boulders at the poor boy, who was running for his dear life.

"I'M TRYING!" shouted Naruto, pushing himself to run as fast as he could, but feeling the exhaustion plaguing him.

" **YOU'RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH!"** retorted the Kyubi, as he chucked another projectile at the fleeing trainee.

This time the Kyubi nearly hit his mark, and Naruto went flying from the impact the boulder had, five feet behind him.

For the arms workout, the Kyubi had him do bicep curls, tricep extensions, bench presses, and shoulder raises with insane amounts of dumbbell weights, pull-ups with a boulder tied to his ankles on the branches of trees that extended into the pond, and pull-down exercises with him trying to lift boulders held by rope over a branch as high as he could.

"50… 51… 52… 53…" counted Naruto, as he fought on to finish the pull-up exercise and not fall into the body of water that had alligators swarming in it, practically beckoning him to fall and be their dinner.

" **Better not fall, those alligators look hungry."** said the Kyubi, and to prove the biju's point, the alligators literally tied bibs around their necks and brought out cutlery, licking their lips for the oncoming meal.

"Oh, come on!" cried Naruto, as he continued with the exercise.

For the core workout, the Kyubi made him do push-ups with cinderblocks on his back over a bed of burning coal, upside down sit-ups on the same branch he had to do the pull-ups, and planks in the same conditions as the push-ups.

"212… 213… 214… ow... my stomach is on fire." groaned Naruto, trying to finish the set of push-ups, while enduring the searing heat that irritated his abdomen.

" **Quit complaining and hurry up, or I'll push you into the burning coals."** threatened the Kyubi.

"Hai!" answered Naruto, as he began to pick up the pace furiously.

For the legs workout, the Kyubi had Naruto do squats while holding a large boulder over his head, a wall or in this case tree sits, where he tried to hold a squatting position as long as he could with cinderblocks on his thighs, lunges for a hundreds of meters while once again holding a sizeable boulder over his head, suicides where he ran back and forth from one point to another, and calf-raises while carrying cinderblocks on his shoulders.

" **Are you feeling the burn?"** asked the Kyubi, while Naruto was doing his tree sit exercise.

"Well, I have a pile of burning coal under my ass to make sure that I don't fall, so yeah I 'feel the burn'." said Naruto, irritably, while hoping he wouldn't fall and have to jump in the river to douse his butt again.

" **Just making sure."** said the Kyubi, with an amused smirk.

For the flexibility exercises, Naruto had to balance on one foot with a cinderblock on his head, while standing on a tree branch, perform splits and hold the position for long periods of time, and bend over his back to hold an arc position with cinderblocks on his abdomen for long periods of time.

"This ain't training. This is torture." complained Naruto, as he tried to keep his concentration and not fall of the branch while the Kyubi hucked kunai at him.

" **Oh, settle down. You're interrupting my target practice."** said the Kyubi, his massive hands made aiming his kunai at the boy difficult.

"Wait, are you ACTUALLY trying to hit me?!" asked Naruto, in alarm.

For the acrobatic exercises, the Kyubi threw any sort of projectile he could imagine at the boy, whether it be shuriken, kunai, boulders, cinder blocks, etc. while Naruto tried to dodge using cartwheels, handstands, front and back-flips, somersaults, and rolls.

"DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!" shouted Naruto in panic, as he narrowly avoided the various projectiles his biju sensei flung at him.

" **Hmmm… what should I choose next?"** thought the Kyubi aloud, scrolling his eye through his massive stockpile of tort-er-training supplies.

"This ain't a game, Kyubi!" roared Naruto, indignantly.

" **And yet, I can't stop having fun!"** answered the biju as he picked up another massive pile of shuriken, probably around two hundred or so, and flung them once again at Naruto.

After a long and exhausting first day of training, Naruto exited the mindscape and plopped on his mattress, before pulling his blanket covers over himself.

" **Well kid, time for you to hit the hay. We still have several weeks ahead of us."** said the Kyubi.

" _ **And a little extra for you…"**_ thought the demon fox.

"Alright Kyubi, goodnight then." the boy said finally nodding off.

" _ **Sorry kid, but you will NOT sleep well tonight…"**_ thought the demon fox, kind of regretting his withholding of information, because the minute the boy closed his eyes a wave of pain literally consumed him.

"Kyubi… wha… what is this…? Why is everything so… oooh…" muttered the Uzumaki.

It was like his motor functions were failing him. The boy could barely make words.

" **Sorry kid, but this is the repercussions for the use of the mindscape. It causes extreme fatigue and has a huge strain on the mind of the jinchuriki. If used for extended periods of time, you could lose yourself and fall into a vegetative state. While we haven't exceeded the limits of this ability you'll have to suffer some of the side-effects."** explained the fox, but he knew it was already too late. By now, Naruto could barely understand what he was saying as the boy fell into a deep slumber.

" **Well, lets get this show on the road. Time for some genjutsu training."** said the Kyubi, before altering the boy's perception of his dreams.

" _Man... what a dream, what happened to me last night?" asked Naruto, groggily._

" _KYUBI! DID YOU DRUG ME OR SOMETHING?!" yelled Naruto, angrily._

 _Silence._

 _Dead silence._

" _Kyubi?" the boy asked, worried._

 _Before the boy could call out for his biju companion again, he realized that there was something very wrong with this picture, or his surroundings to be exact._

 _Rather than sitting in his somewhat comfortable bed in the safety of his apartment, he was standing in the middle of Konoha's market district and it was one of the busier days._

 _Almost immediately after Naruto took note of his surroundings, the villagers seemed to have sensed his presence and they turned to each other gossiping and whispering about the Uzumaki._

 _Thanks to the Third Hokage, the knowledge of Naruto being the jinchuriki of the Kyubi was labeled an S-Rank secret, and any talk of it around the boy or to his generation was forbidden, punishable by death._

 _In this scenario however, even though the villagers were trying their best to hide their thoughts about the boy, Naruto heard them loud and clearly, as if they were speaking directly into his ears._

" _Look it's that demon brat again."_

" _Why does the Third insist on letting it live?"_

" _That monster killed my husband and yet it is allowed to roam free?!"_

" _If it weren't for those blasted ANBU, I would've killed it already."_

" _Why can't it just do us all a favor, and just die."_

" _Die already, demon scum."_

" _Just ignore it and it'll go away."_

" _I can't wait for that demon to fail the Academy and realize the failure that it is."_

" _I need to make sure my kids stay away from that thing."_

" _Let's go honey, we might catch something if we stay near that mongrel."_

 _All of these statements raced through the boy's head as he watched the villagers of Konoha, dehumanize him, wish him bodily harm and death, and scorn him, as if he was just some…_

 _Creature._

 _The boy felt a twinge of pain in his left chest… inside of his heart._

 _At first Naruto thought it was sadness, but as the pain grew Naruto could could see it was the nowhere close to that._

 _What he was feeling was rage._

 _Utter rage._

" _Shut up…" thought Naruto._

 _The hushed whispers continued._

" _Shut up!" thought Naruto, more urgency in his voice._

 _The whispers were becoming even frequent, and they contained even meaner insults about him._

" _You keep spouting lies about becoming Hokage. This village will never allow a demon like you to rule over us! Forget it! LEAVE HERE AND NEVER COME BACK!"_

 _At the completion of that statement, the boy snapped._

" _Shut… UP!" roared Naruto as his body engulfed itself in a sinister, red chakra._

 _A massive red explosion expanded through the village, followed by a wide arc of destruction as the after effect of the release of power. Bodies were blasted away from the epicenter of the eruption, as the boy began a horrific transformation._

 _His skin slowly peeled away as his blood took a fox-like shape. Bones grew around him in a tight embrace, almost to comfort him. Soon flesh covered him again, but it was not his own, and it represented the losing battle that the light was facing against the darkness._

" _ **Naruto… Naruto… "**_ _echoed a soft voice._

" _What… what is that? Who are you?" asked the transforming Naruto, in panic._

 _He just wanted the hurt, pain, and rage to end._

" _ **Naruto… fear not. I will always be here for you… Otherwise a dumb gaki like yourself will get into a shitload of trouble after all."**_ _snickered the voice._

" _Kyu… Kyubi?" asked Naruto._

 _The scene faded to black with the biju's echoing roar._

The Uzumaki woke with a jolt, kunai in hand. Hot tears crawled down his face thanks to the dream he just had.

"Wha… what in the hell was that." whispered Naruto, as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

Receiving no answer, the Uzumaki wasn't sure if the Kyubi was responsible, or if his memories were haunting him all of a sudden thanks to the mental strain he was putting himself through with the training.

" _What's happening to me…"_ thought Naruto, before laying back down on his bed.

Despite the Kyubi's peculiar methods of training, which ISN'T torture mind you (words from the great biju himself), Naruto's vastly improved eating habits, the Kyubi's stringent training exercises, and the rapid healing of Naruto's weary and exhausted muscles after every day of training helped the Uzumaki make massive progress.

The boy had eliminated all of the baby fat that was on his body and replaced it with pure, lean muscle. The muscles, especially his newfound six-pack, were well-defined on his body, and the boy had never felt so… strong and in shape before. He felt as if he could run a marathon and not even feel winded.

After two weeks of non-stop physical conditioning, the Kyubi felt that Naruto was ready to expand upon his training, and while he never stopped doing physical conditioning, the biju condensed the exercises to be completed in the morning while Naruto worked on improving his chakra control and taijutsu.

The dream that Naruto had after the first day of training hadn't appeared again, but the boy never worked up the courage to ask the Kyubi about it.

" **Ok, it's time to fix the biggest detriment to your shinobi abilities, chakra control. It's the mother-of-all your problems, the alpha and the omega, the-"** began the Kyubi, before he was interrupted by the Uzumaki.

"I get it! I get it already! You don't have to keep beating the dead horse!" growled Naruto, with a tick mark on his temple.

" **Alright, as long as you know. The first step to reining in your chakra control is mastery of the leaf concentration exercise."** stated the Kyubi.

" _Ugh… not that stupid technique. Iruka-sensei kept trying to make us practice that crap."_ groaned Naruto mentally.

" **KYUBI SLAM!"** roared the biju, sending Naruto, once again, flying into a tree.

"What was that for?!" growled Naruto, rubbing yet another bump on his head.

" **First off, we share the same mind, so I can hear your thoughts. Hence why I sent you flying, because it's seems like you are doubting my training."** answered the Kyubi.

Naruto at first wanted to retort, but remembering the pain on his head, he decided to keep quiet for the time being and listen to what the Kyubi had to say.

" **Good, it seems you're learning how to keep your trap shut. Now, grab one of the leaves that fell on the ground because of your impact, and place it on your forehead."** commanded the Kyubi, to which Naruto complied.

" **Now focus your chakra on the leaf, and try to make it spin."** said the Kyubi.

Naruto did what the Kyubi told him, but the leaf didn't budge.

"It didn't work." said Naruto, deadpanned.

" **I can see that, thank you very much. Imagine that your head is filled with energy. Slowly concentrate on that energy and imagine it slowly spinning like water down a drain."** explained the Kyubi.

Naruto took the advice and concentrated his chakra on the leaf. After a few moments, the leaf flew off his forehead with quite a bit of force.

" **Now that you've felt the energy, you know what to do. Next time, focus on control and imagine the energy moving slower."** explained the Kyubi.

The Uzumaki nodded and picked up another leaf before trying again. After watching fifteen minutes of the leaf blasting off of Naruto's forehead, the Kyubi decided to take a nap for a bit while the blonde worked on the exercise.

Two hours later, Naruto actually made some progress with the exercise. The leaf was wildly fluctuating above his forehead and in no way was it rotating in a controlled manner, but it had at the very least stopped blasting off into the air.

"Hey, Kyubi! Look! I got it! I finally got it!" yelled the boy, thrilled with his small feat. Now if the demon fox was paying attention that would be another story.

" **Huh… what? Who is that!? What are you doing here?!"** grumbled the fox, groggily rising from his 2-hour nap.

"YOU SERIOUSLY WEREN'T WATCHING!? WHAT THE HELL KYUBI!?" whined the young Uzumaki.

" **SHUT IT GAKI! YOU SOUND JUST LIKE MY MOTHER!"** growled the demon fox.

"You have a mother?" asked the intrigued Uzumaki, as he imagined a hulking orange ball of fur, being nursed and taught by its gargantuan mother on how to become the bane of the hidden villages.

" **Nope. I just felt like saying it."** said the Kyubi, much to his pupil's ire.

" _ **Though, it seems he's made some progress. I guess it's time for taijutsu practice… oh lord have mercy upon my soul."**_ thought the Kyubi.

" **Alright gaki, get up. Let's move on to taijutsu."** said the Kyubi, beckoning the boy to follow him.

The Kyubi led Naruto to an open clearing with some punching bags hanging from tree branches, and a tree with the large portion of the trunk smoothed out and wrapped in cushioning.

" **As you already know, because I have said it many times before, you SUCK at taijutsu. You have no defined style and you fight like a drunken sailor, throwing in random punches and kicks, hoping they land. It's sloppy, wasteful, and opposite of how a shinobi fights."** criticised the Kyubi.

"How do you plan to fix my taijutsu?" asked Naruto.

" **Well my dear student, I'm gonna have you practice some straight jabs at these punching bags. Just hammer away. I'll give you corrections as I see them, which will probably be everything I see."** answered the demon fox in a happy tone.

A moment of silence...

"Wait… really?" asked Naruto.

" **Yup!"** said the Kyubi, still smiling.

"Your serious? No gimmicks? No lies?" asked the boy, still suspicious.

" **Just have at it kid."** answered the demon fox, never dropping his seemingly sincere smile.

" _This doesn't feel right at all… this exercise is exceptionally easy compared to the others… is the Kyubi being NICE?!"_ thought Naruto while looking at the fox again.

After another few moments of tense silence, Naruto sighed, lowering his guard and throwing caution to the wind. The boy excessively cocked his fist back, about to incorrectly perform a straight jab.

" **KYUBI SLAM!"** roared the biju, sending the boy flying once again, but into the pond full of alligators.

"YOU LIAR! WHAT THE HELL! WAIT NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Naruto, as he exited the pond and went up the closest tree.

"Why do you do this Kyubi?! Why?!" cried Naruto, comedic tears coming down the boy's face as the overgrown lizards continued to attack the base of the trunk, hoping to knock him down.

" **What did I say to you gaki, when I was explaining the exercise? Throw a STRAIGHT JAB! If you cock back that arm and revert back to your old 'Fist of the Drunken Sailor' habits, you'll get a kick in the ass! How many times must I say it?!"** roared the annoyed biju.

"THAT'S the problem, damn it! YOU SAID IT ONLY ONCE!" Naruto shouted back.

" **And that was one time too many! Now, again!"** barked the demon fox.

The Kyubi's sadistic process continued as every punch the boy threw ended with a foot in the ass. Until finally he was proficient enough in the straight jab to meet the Kyubi's standard.

" **Good job gaki, you finally got it! And it only took you a half-hour!"** congratulated the demon fox, sprouting a triumphant grin.

"I… pant… hate you… pant pant… Kyubi." growled the young Uzumaki, covered in alligator bites, and not in the least bit amused.

" **I love you, too. Now we're gonna add some other punches. Uppercuts, hooks, haymakers, back-fist strikes, you know the whole works. You're gonna learn all of these so we can remake your fighting style. THE 'FIST OF THE DRUNKEN SAILOR' SHALL BE ERADICATED TODAY!"** praised the Kyubi.

And Naruto's taijutsu training began in earnest. Thanks to the Kyubi's sadistic punishments as added incentives to not screw up, within a few days, the boy was throwing a vast-array of adequately executed punches and strikes like he'd done them all of his life.

"Wow, this has gotten a whole lot easier. All of these taijutsu strikes feel so natural." said the boy, amazed by his progress.

" **You're welcome. Like I said, because of my chakra, I've heightened your mental and physical prowess. Your healing, your strength, and your memory retention. My chakra's regenerative abilities are literally making muscle memory work exponentially faster for you. With every broken bone and torn muscle, it will rapidly heal to become even stronger and more durable than it was before. Which is why I said, I will break you, fix you, then break you again. It will only help you, and Lord you'll need all the help you can get."** chuckled the fox.

A little while later, the Kyubi had Naruto begin practicing his kicks and knee-strikes, and the Uzumaki was taking a lot less 'Kyubi Slams' than he was when he first started taijutsu training.

" **Very good, gaki. This is going very well. Also, because I put some rocks in the bags, with every hit you practice, your strengthening the contact points you use while fighting."** said the fox.

"What?! I was wondering what you put in these things!" growled Naruto.

" **Hey, don't you growl at me, you wanted this."** retorted the Kyubi.

After spending several more hours practicing his punches, kicks, elbow and knee-strikes, the imaginary sun started to set, and the Kyubi finally allowed the boy to rest in the grass.

" **You know kid, even with your pitiful start, you've been really improving your game. You can finally throw a punch without looking like a drunkard. I'm pretty proud of my work."** boasted the Kyubi.

" _I'll take that as you saying you're proud of me."_ thought Naruto, with a smile.

" **Well kid, another day of mental training gone by. Lights out."** yawned the demon fox.

"WAIT! Kyubi!" screamed the boy, almost frantic.

" **What?"** asked the fox, almost alarmed.

The boy at first didn't answer, he was unsure of how to ask a great engine of destruction such as the Kyubi, advice about bad dreams, but he gave it a try anyway.

"I… I wanted to ask you… I had a dream two weeks ago… and it's been really bothering me. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to you…" trailed off Naruto, while the fox sensed worry within the boy.

" **Hah… ok… ok… within the dream, tell me, where did he touch you?"** asked the fox, straight faced.

Naruto was silent for a few moments before erupting with many different emotions.

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHERE DID HE TOUCH ME?!" the young Uzumaki yelled, embarrassment and horror etched on his face.

"You know what? Forget it! See you tomorrow, You dumb fox!" harrumphed Naruto.

" **Hahaha… alright kid, you know what's about to happen…"** began the biju.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Sleep mode. G'night Kyubi." said the boy as the mindscape faded to black.

" _Please… please God… don't be that horrible dream again."_ thought the Uzumaki, even though it hadn't happened in over two weeks, he was still shook every day at the idea of seeing it again.

" _ **Oh, ok. Your asking God for a different dream, eh? I'll happily oblige."**_ snickered the demon fox as he prepared another dream-like genjutsu for the boy.

 _Naruto awakened prepared to be on the street again only to find himself outside his apartment, in his full shinobi gear._

" _ **Alright , it's time for your first day. Go get 'em, Naruto."**_ _said the Kyubi._

" _Alright Kyubi, lets g-… di… did you just call me Naruto?" asked the Uzumaki._

" _ **Yeah, I did. Isn't that your name?"**_ _said the Kyubi._

" _Yeah it is… but you always call me gaki, or kid, or something…" said Naruto._

" _ **Nah, after what you went through with me? You deserve to be called your name."**_ _said the Kyubi._

" _Kyubi's being nice again, something's up…" thought Naruto, and he began walking with his guard up, prepared to see a giant wooden stake or something fly at him._

 _Instead, he heard the concerned greetings of the villagers, the villagers who went out of their way to make life hard for Naruto._

" _Hey! Good Morning Naruto!"_

" _How are you, Naruto?"_

" _Did you sleep well?"_

" _What is this? Why is everyone being so nice? Don't they all hate me? If they're playing a trick on me… I won't fall for it." thought Naruto._

 _The boy continued his march to school head held high, not prepared to fall for any tricks that may come by._

" _Looky here, its Naruto! The number 1 class clown! How's it going?" asked a boy in a grey, longsleeve hoodie, with fur at the rim of the hood._

 _Naruto turned to see Kiba, their second best at taijutsu, talking to him._

 _A moment of silence follows._

" _... Fine… I'm doing fine… did the other classmates put you up to this?" asked Naruto, suspicion welling up in him._

" _I really can't say hi?" asked Kiba, a wide smile still on his face._

" _Well you can, but… I'm… I'm just not used to people being nice to me. All morning people have been greeting me and talking to me. They are NOTICING me. I never thought that would be possible, especially for me." said the Uzumaki, a sad tone settling over him._

" _You know, Naruto. I don't know who told you that, but not everyone hates you as much as you think they do. Did you forget you have all of us with you? Yeah, you cause trouble for people. Everyone does. Some of your pranks are really funny to be honest. Even though you're supposedly cursed, you aren't that bad of a guy." explained Kiba._

 _Nothing in the world could have made Naruto happier. He turned to see Iruka-sensei and his entire class, smiling at him, arms open._

 _That was the best day of class Naruto had ever had. His classmates talked to him. Played with him. Practiced with him. He felt… human. For the first day in his life, Naruto felt human._

" _Naruto." said a girl with sakura colored hair._

 _The Uzumaki knew that voice, but it couldn't be…_

" _Sakura? Talking to me? What is this?" thought Naruto. He couldn't process the fact that she was acknowledging him._

" _May I talk to you?" asked Sakura, blushing slightly._

" _Um… yea… go on, shoot." answered Naruto, maybe a little too quickly. The pink haired girl just giggled._

" _I had no idea how I was going to say this to you. My mother always told me to stay away… but… I can't do it anymore." said Sakura._

 _She looked very uncomfortable, like she was having a hard time finding words. Naruto's classmates began whispering to themselves, contemplating the change of events._

" _No way… Sakura?"_

" _Is she… confessing?!"_

" _Quiet! I wanna listen!"_

" _Naruto… I've always liked you. For a long time. So many people think you're a bad guy, but when I see you, I can always tell that you're just lonely. So many people pushed you away, and I couldn't bear to watch you sit alone. But if I went to you, everyone would turn on me, too. But now… now I don't care anymore." said Sakura, these final words she said looked to be the hardest._

" _Naruto… would you… go out with me?" asked Sakura._

 _Everything stopped for Naruto as she uttered these words. It was like it was just the two of them in the room. Muffled yells of yes surrounded him as he faced the girl. Normally, he would say yes almost immediately. But something within him told him otherwise. Something that he heard before. Endless memories rushed through his mind as he recalled all the things he experienced. All the deep rooted memories Kyubi reminded him of._

" _No…" whispered Naruto._

" _What?" asked Sakura._

" _There's no way in... THE SEVEN DEPTHS OF HELL is this real! You'd never say something like that to me! Everything you've said to me! Everything you've done?! I refuse to believe that you'd would genuinely go out with me over that Sasuke-teme in a million years!" roared Naruto._

 _Then just like that, the events that were playing in Naruto's mind were filling with a bright, white light, the shroud of confusion lifting._

 _He remembered everything he'd seen._

 _Everything he'd been through._

 _The shunning._

 _The insults._

 _The hatred he'd experienced since childhood._

 _All of his mixed emotions reacted with his chakra coils, overloading them with chakra and focusing it in his core, before releasing it in a powerful gust._

" _A girl who followed and added to all of the hatred, anger, and distrust is trying to confess to me. Don't insult me... THIS IS OVER!" growled Naruto._

 _And with that, the dream ended in an explosion of blue light._

" **Hmm… I wasn't expecting it to go so well. Congrats, gaki! You've broken your first Genjutsu."** congratulated the demon fox, very pleased with his pupil.

"Wha… that was your doing? … why would you…" asked the boy, groggily.

" **No time to talk now. Get some sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."** answered the Kyubi.

Those were the last things the boy heard before everything faded to black.


	3. The Reborn Uzumaki

Co-Created by: Nwandu225 and oonyekaba

We do not own the rights to Naruto, all credit goes to Kishimoto.

 **A/N (Nwandu225): Here's the next chapter! Reviews and Comments are wanted and needed!**

 **Chapter 3: The Reborn Uzumaki**

As Naruto sat at the breakfast table, he couldn't help but wonder what the Kyubi had just pulled last night.

"They were just genjutsu… but how… they felt so real…" said Naruto, thinking out loud.

" **YAWN… oh, mornin' gaki. Ready for another day of training?"** asked the demon fox, with a wide grin.

"Kyubi… please stop the pleasantries." muttered Naruto.

The demon fox fell silent, knowing what was to come.

"Kyubi… what have you been doing to me? What were those dreams? What are you planning?" asked Naruto, his anger rising.

Still silence.

"Kyubi! I have to know!" yelled Naruto, almost at his breaking point.

" **Genjutsus. I've been putting you in genjutsus while you sleep."** answered the Kyubi.

"But why didn't you tell me? Did I not have a right to know?!" asked Naruto, incredulously.

" **Exactly. You shouldn't know. When a genjutsu is casted, 100% of the time you WON'T know when it'll happen. Which is why I did it in your dreams. So you can prepare for when you're hit by a real one. Your dreams were the safest bet, and because of that you were able to learn the dispelling technique pretty well."** explained the Kyubi.

"Dispelling technique?" asked Naruto, curious.

" **Yes, when an enemy casts a genjutsu against you, they launch foreign chakra into your chakra coils, and if it takes root, they can use their control of your internal chakra system to mess with your nervous system, affecting your sight, touch, hearing, smell, and even taste. To break a genjutsu, a shinobi needs to concentrate all of their chakra to the core or their chakra network and release it in a burst to expel the invasive chakra. Thanks to my Sakura dream, your anger helped you to execute the technique."** answered the Kyubi.

"So… none of that was real… you were only training me?" asked Naruto, while flashbacks of last night's dream played in his head.

" **Yes, it's only training. But, I also wanted you to think about the realization that you had when Sakura confessed to you. Think about how you always pine for her, and yet she always rejects you, scorns you, hits you, and has that idiotic fangirl obsession over the Uchiha brat. Is she even worth it?"** asked the Kyubi, with a grim expression.

The Uzumaki looked to be in deep thought, remembering all of his attempts to get onto the pink-haired girls good side, and seeing how foolish he was in his pursuit of her love.

"You're right, Sakura is not even worth it. I need to rid myself of my obsession over her and move on to what's more important, maybe down the line I'll find someone who actually respects me." said Naruto, saddened but understanding.

" _ **That Hyuga girl already has a thing for you, and I have a better opinion of her than that pink-haired fangirl. But I'll let you figure out that conundrum later."**_ thought the Kyubi.

Alright… what's on the agenda?" asked the Uzumaki.

The demon's face or… snout formed a maniacal grin and replied, " **We… are going to up the ante. We're gonna start an even more grueling training regimen. Are you ready, gaki?"**

The boy remained silent for a while, thinking over the beast's words, before meeting the gaze of the most powerful of bijuu with sheer determination etched in his expression.

"Let's get going." said Naruto, before initiating mental training once more.

(Week 10 of training (out of 12 or three months)…)

" **HAJIME!"** roared the Kyubi, signaling the beginning of the sparring match.

The young Uzumaki slowly circled around the edge of clearing, about 50 meters in diameter, as the wind whistled in the air. The grass rustled under his bare feet as he closed in on his opponent.

The normal Naruto would have already rushed his opponent, before having his face become intimate with the ground, but this was not the same Naruto. Along with becoming much more analytical and tactical in combat (because of the Kyubi beating some common sense into the boy), the blonde Uzumaki was several inches taller than he was before nearly three months prior, standing at the height or even taller than his male classmates. Lean, sinewy muscles were all that composed Naruto's well-built frame, thanks to the harsh training that the boy endured.

For the past two weeks, the Kyubi had Naruto spar with a special fighting partner to help his pupil gain experience in combat, and since then the painful beatings that Naruto had endured from the Kyubi's helper before he progressed enough in skill to beat them had filled the boy with nothing but fear.

For what better opponent would there be than yourself, one that contained all of your inner demons, and thanks to that this guy would not be an easy win.

" **Alright gaki, it took a while but yesterday you finally defeated a level 3 training clone. This guy is a level 4, stronger than before, so you better be on your toes and avoid getting your ass whooped, you understand?!"** barked the Kyubi.

"Yeah , yeah, I get it. I'll be careful." grumbled the Uzumaki, watching the clone very closely.

" _Kyubi's right though, each level of clones is worse than the last and they can whoop ass if you're not careful. I don't want things to end up like level 3 did… uhh god…"_ thought Naruto.

Painful memories flashed as he remembered the brutal beating he received from the level 3, before he finally outdid it in battle.

Noticing that his opponent was shuddering, the fighting clone began its insults.

" **Worried about last fight, eh? Don't worry, I'll beat you even harder than he did! Get ready, for a good old-fashioned ass kicking!"** mocked the clone, while adopting an attacking stance.

"Hah! You think that hurt? Compared to what Kyubi does to me during training, that felt like a bunch of hugs. I'm not gonna lose to you, understand?!" countered Naruto, firing himself up.

The fighting clone sneered before charging the Uzumaki, and Naruto entered a defensive stance waiting for the exchange to begin.

Naruto's opponent began the fight with a series of jabs that the Uzumaki shifted his head to avoid, before following up with a right hook. However, Naruto got inside of the clone's strike and brought up an arm to block, before countering with a straight punch to the gut.

The clone sidestepped to avoid the blow and launched a sweeping kick to knock Naruto off his footing. Naruto was a step ahead however and jumped upwards to avoid the attack and counter with a vicious airborne hook-kick to the temple.

The clone ducked to dodge the airborne hook-kick, before performing a series of backflips to gain some distance, but Naruto pursued to press his advantage.

Naruto attempted a low side-kick to the shin to trip up his opponent, but the clone shuffled backwards a bit to avoid, before it proceeded to hastily deflect Naruto's back-fist strike with a palm, inside block Naruto's jabs to the face, and then duck under Naruto's right hook to the temple.

The clone landed a frontal side-kick to Naruto's abdomen, catching the blonde off-guard, and sending him flying backwards into the ground.

Naruto quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the axe-kick that the clone launched at him to end the fight, and countered with a backwards sweeping kick to knock the clone off its footing, but to no avail.

The Uzumaki used the momentum of his sweeping kick to follow up with a windmill kick to force the clone backwards and gain some distance, before jumping back up on his feet.

However, as soon as Naruto got back to his feet, the clone came in with a clothesline to the neck and slammed him back into the ground. The clone then followed up with a hard stomp to Naruto's chest, knocking the wind from him.

" **Bad move kid."** snickered the clone, with his foot planted on the Uzumaki's chest.

The clone grabbed the boy by the neck, before landing a vicious haymaker to Naruto's chin, sending him skidding across the field. Naruto regained control by digging his hands in the ground to stop his skidding and then re-entered his defensive stance, waiting for the clone's next move.

The clone pursued and came flying in with a side-kick, but Naruto countered by grabbing the clone's foot. The Uzumaki spun his opponent around to get him dizzy before pulling it close and slamming an elbow into its gut, sending it to the ground and knocking the wind out of it. Naruto grabbed both of the clone's ankles and spun it around once more to gain momentum, before proceeding to throw it into a nearby rock formation.

The clone quickly recovered and charged Naruto again, ducking under Naruto's prepared haymaker and tackled the Uzumaki to the ground. The clone hopped onto Naruto's chest and launched a vicious volley of jabs at the Uzumaki's face.

Naruto had just enough time to raise his arms to guard against the strikes, before using one of his legs to kick the clone in the back, sending its face right into Naruto's headbut. The clone flipped backwards painfully from the impact, landing on its head before flopping on its back.

Dazed, the clone was unable to stop Naruto from dropping onto him and throwing rapid jabs at its face, like the clone had done before to Naruto. The clone broke the attack however, by rolling over, knocking Naruto off of him and landing a painful upwards back-kick to Naruto's solar plexus, sending the boy flying backwards.

Naruto recovered by doing a one-handed cartwheel to land on his feet, but when the Uzumaki raised his head he saw dozens of shuriken flying at him. At first the projectiles seemed to have hit home, but the Naruto that it hit turned into a log, the result of a perfectly executed **Kawarimi** without hand-seals.

The sparring clone shocked at the turn of events, frantically looked for its prey but was blindsided the pain of several shuriken piercing its back. Naruto reappeared out of nowhere with incredible speed and launched a brutal roundhouse kick to the clone's abdomen, sending the clone flying into the ground once more.

Quickly, Naruto pulled out a kunai from his combat pouch and slit the clone's neck, finally ending the fight.

"Phew… ow…" groaned Naruto, feeling the pain of his injuries after the adrenaline of combat faded.

The Kyubi, who was spectating the fight, whistled in pride, thoroughly impressed with the match.

" **Yes. A job well done, gaki. No hesitation in that kill, like a true shinobi. That's how you should be fighting. You could've ended the fight faster, though. I was starting to get bored."** congratulated the demon fox.

Naruto, upon hearing that, stared at his 'sensei' with a slightly annoyed glare.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kyubi-sensei! I didn't mean to bore you while I tried to keep myself from being stomped into the floor like last time! Don't worry, next time I'll make sure to get my ass handed faster for your own entertainment!" said Naruto, with obvious sarcasm in his voice.

" **Aw! Why, thanks kid! Nothing makes me happier than watching your ass get torn open by one of my creations! It makes me feel so proud!"** boasted the Kyubi, with small tears growing in it's eyes.

"Shut up Kyubi-sensei!" growled Naruto.

" **Did you just growl at me, AGAIN?!"** snarled the fox, in a dangerous tone.

"Nope!" squeaked the Uzumaki, realizing his error of speech.

" **Cause I'm pretty sure you just did, gaki…"** growled the demon fox, while releasing a good amount of its killing intent.

The boy stood paralyzed with fear. As the fox's killer intent struck the boy's squeals rang through the sky.

"KYUBI-SENSEI YAMATE!" apologized Naruto.

" **Alright kid, time to move on to ninjutsu training. Let's try to reduce the amount of clones that you make with the** **Bunshin** **."** said the Kyubi.

"Hai!" said Naruto in approval, his knees wobbling in fear.

The past two months had been an excruciating period of time, as the Kyubi had amped up Naruto's training, but the results were worth it.

On the day of training that followed Naruto's dispelling of his first genjutsu, the Kyubi had immediately increased the difficulty of the Uzumaki's physical conditioning.

The aerobics workout where Naruto had to run 10 miles in an hour, was increased to 30 miles, and the boy had to run while a massive boulder was tied to his waist. The Kyubi every so often would launch projectiles at Naruto to make him run faster.

The arms workout recieved the same treatment, the weights that Naruto was lifting were tripled and the amount of reps was increased as well. Then for the pull-up exercises, Naruto had to do it one-handed, while his other arm was tied to his back.

For the core workout, the weights were increased substantially as well, and for the push-ups Naruto at first had to do them one-handed and then he had to do handstand push-ups, balancing the weights on his feet while pushing off of a pole that hovered over the bed of burning coals.

For the legs workout, the weights were obviously increased as well as the amounts, but now he had to complete the exercises while balancing off of tight-rope wires connected to different trees. The suicide exercises changed from him shuffling or jumping from point A to B on the ground to the trees.

For the flexibility workout the stretches were held for longer with more weights being supported, WHILE balancing above obstacles like for the legs workout.

For the acrobatics workouts, the Kyubi instead of launching his normal array of projectiles, was actually using MEDIEVAL SIEGE WEAPONS to launch wall-shattering projectiles at his pupil. Also, Naruto had to practice jumping out of holes, with their depths increasing every time he was able to get out in one leap.

One major area of improvement was Naruto's chakra control, he went from being unable to mold chakra properly to form a bunshin, to gaining the chakra control of a jonin, easily surpassing Sakura's skill.

For weeks 3 & 4, the Kyubi had Naruto work on the Leaf Concentration exercise to improve his chakra control. While at first the leaf would constantly blast off his forehead, Naruto was eventually able to master the technique, using his newfound chakra control to make the leaf calmly hover over his forehead and spin either clockwise or counterclockwise.

Then, the Kyubi had Naruto move on to the Tree Walking exercise and the Uzumaki realized how far the bar had raised. At first, Naruto had to get a running start up the tree and even still it took a week of him either flying off the tree from applying too much chakra under his sole and splitting the bark, or using too little and falling to the ground.

Using a kunai to mark his progress, after the fifth week of training Naruto was able to use his chakra to keep him glued to the tree long enough to run up it. But before the Uzumaki could celebrate, the Kyubi burst his bubble by saying, " **Congratulations you have master tree** _ **running**_ **now its time to master tree** _ **walking**_ **."**

Another week would pass, bringing the length of time that had passed since Naruto had started training to six weeks, before he gained the chakra control to slowly and calmly walk up a large tree and even walk upside down on the tree's branches. However, the Kyubi grew proud of his pupil, he was making great swathes of progress and had already transformed himself from the knucklehead dobe that he once was.

The next chakra control exercise that Naruto would learn from the Kyubi was the water walking technique. Thinking that the water walking training would be easy, the Uzumaki applied chakra to his soles like for tree walking and jumped onto the surface of the lake, thinking that he would stand. However, he crashed straight into the water much to his sensei's amusement. The Kyubi explained to the drenched Uzumaki that for the water walking exercise, the amount and shape of the chakra under his soles must constantly change to match the surface of the body of water's changes.

After another two weeks of crashing and falling into the water, Naruto finally mastered water walking to the point that he didn't even have to consciously think about it, and with the gained chakra control he could run, skate, and slide across the water without going under.

Thinking that he had finished all of the chakra control exercises that were stated in the chakra control exercise scroll that he bought, Naruto celebrated, but the boy should have learnt by now that the Kyubi doesn't teach only by the book. The Kyubi lead Naruto to a waterfall and told the boy that his final chakra control exercise was to walk up the massive natural feature.

At first Naruto looked at his sensei like he was crazy, but when he saw the serious (with a slightly amused grin) facial expression of the demon fox, Naruto sighed and got to it. The waterfall walking technique was a combination of the tree walking and water walking exercises, it incorporated the vertical path of the tree and the shifting surface of water, but it's difficulty was several times greater than either or.

The waterfall walking technique required a massive amount of chakra to keep his feet glued to the rushing water, but he also had to change its shape constantly because of the flowing water, and it proved to be a difficult challenge, leading to the Kyubi having to save Naruto dozens of times from falling to his death. But eventually, after two more long weeks of perseverance and dedication, the Uzumaki mastered waterfall running and then walking.

Another major point of improvement for Naruto was the reforming of his abysmal taijutsu skills. The Kyubi wasted no time reforming Naruto's _Fist of the Drunken Sailor_ fighting style and started with the absolute basics.

The third and fourth weeks of training included Naruto mastering all of the different types of punches, hand-strikes, elbow-strikes, kicks, knee-strikes, grappling maneuvers, and blocking techniques in the beginner through advanced Academy taijutsu scrolls. Hours upon hours were spent practicing the same move over and over again to burn it into Naruto's mental and muscle memory.

The rock-filled punching bags and the trees were used to help Naruto build up a resistance to pain when hitting hard objects or well put-up guards. The Kyubi threw rubber balls at Naruto to help him practice dodging and or blocking attacks.

Then the next month was spent using the different moves and techniques that Naruto memorized and forming them into effective combos, forms, and katas. At first, Naruto practiced the forms depicted in the Academy taijutsu scrolls, but eventually the Kyubi tasked the boy with creating his own.

However, the biju quickly realized that the best way to get better in hand-to-hand combat is by sparring. So using his youki chakra and the infinite imaginative abilities of the mindscape, the demon fox created a sparring clone that looked like exactly like Naruto, except for its black and red eyes.

The demon fox arranged the sparring clones into levels from 1-9, signifying their difficulty to beat, the higher the level, the more chakra it received from the biju making it faster, stronger, and smarter.

The next two weeks were spent to have Naruto get used to real-time combat, and at first even though Naruto had memorized dozens of forms and maneuvers, he didn't know how to properly use them in a fight, and therefore got the snot beaten out of him by a level 1 clone.

After a few days however, Naruto quickly became accustomed to timing his attacks and blocks, turning the tables on the level 1 clone and defeating it in a fierce fight. Since then, the Uzumaki worked on improving his timing and reading his opponents moves against the higher level sparring clones.

The biggest point of improvement for Naruto however was his improved ability with ninjutsu. The Kyubi had Naruto wait to start ninjutsu training until the last month, so that he could work on his chakra control. Once Naruto mastered water walking however, the Kyubi began the Uzumaki's training in earnest.

For the first two days, the Kyubi had Naruto work on memorizing all of the different hand-seals that represented animals, and improving his speed in forming them. Soon Naruto was able to make 20 hand-seals in less than 5 seconds, and the biju let the boy go to work on mastering the Academy ninjutsu.

The first one that Naruto was put to work on was the **Kawarimi** (Substitution) jutsu, because the demon fox believed that it was the most useful and practical jutsu for combat out of all three. The **Kawarimi** allowed the user to switch places with a nearby object if threatened with a danger inescapable through normal means.

Thanks to Naruto's newfound mastery of chakra control, his first attempt at substituting with an object was successful, the Uzumaki was able to switch places with a log that the Kyubi placed two meters behind him. The Kyubi, pleased with his pupil's progress, had him practice substituting with objects farther away and in a shorter time.

After five days, Naruto mastered the **Kawarimi** to the extent that he could substitute with any object half a kilometer away (500 meters) and without hand-seals, thanks to his increased comfortability with the molding of chakra for a substitution.

The next Academy jutsu that the Kyubi had Naruto practice was the **Henge** (Transformation) jutsu. This jutsu while not as combat effective as the **Kawarimi** in the Kyubi's opinion, its tactical possibilities for intelligence gathering and confusing an enemy by disguising one's self makes it a useful technique.

Naruto already had experience with the **Henge** because of his Sexy jutsu, so the Kyubi had the boy work on impersonating a common civilian, council-member, bandit, chunin ninja, samurai, and the Hokage as they would be the people he would most likely need to impersonate to escape an unfavorable position.

Another two days were spent on improving the speed at which the jutsu was utilized and the accuracy and detail of the impersonations, even replicating voices. Thanks to the constant practice, Naruto was able to perform the **Henge** without hand-seals, due to his increased familiarity with molding chakra for a transformation.

The final Academy jutsu that the Kyubi had Naruto practice was the boy's mortal enemy during his failures in the Genin exams, the **Bunshin** jutsu. The problem with the technique was that the jutsu made an intangible clone that doesn't have a shadow or causes physical effects, practically an opaque astral projection which requires a miniscule amount of chakra.

For someone like Naruto, who at this point has as much chakra as a Kage at maximum power in their prime, the amount of chakra required to perform the technique is way too little for Naruto to be able to proportion. Naruto can't overpower the technique with chakra without creating way too many clones, unlike the **Kawarimi** which would allow him to substitute over longer distances and the **Henge** which would allow the transformation to last longer and have more detail.

Thankfully, with Naruto's new and vastly improved chakra control, the Uzumaki was able to make healthy clones, the problem was that he made 3000 clones, when a normal Academy student would have made 3 from the same proportion of their chakra. The Kyubi face-palmed hard when he saw the amount of work that his pupil would have to do to reduce that number significantly. For Naruto, trying to make 3 basic clones was like trying to fill a toothpaste cap with water through a thin straw from a 10 gallon jug, practically impossible unless you have impeccable chakra control, one that surpasses a Kage's.

Naruto persevered however and along with persistent practice with the **Bunshin** jutsu for nearly two weeks and mastery of the waterfall walking exercise, Naruto reduced the amount of clones that he made from 3000 to 600, an amazing feat but still far away from the goal of the maximum of ten clones for the Genin exam.

Another skill that Naruto worked on over the past two months was bukijutsu (shuriken and kunai techniques), and the boy came a long way in improving his aim, the distance he could launch projectiles, his trap making skills, and his close combat with kunai. Naruto started his bukijutsu practice on the third month of his training to build up his physical strength and dexterity from his physical conditioning workouts and chakra control from his success in the water-walking exercise.

For the first three days, Naruto worked on his aim, the Kyubi constantly making him focus, practice on throwing the correct way, and to extend his consciousness around him to notice subtle changes in the wind that would alter his projectiles' mark. However, thanks to the focusing skills he gained during the workouts that required balancing and or dodging, he took to shuriken and kunai launching like bread to butter, easily hitting the bulls-eye on the targets from ten meters away.

The Kyubi, satisfied with the boy's skill in focusing, had Naruto spend the next two days working on the distance that he could throw shuriken and kunai. Once again, thanks to the massive increases in strength, speed, and dexterity, gained from his physical conditioning, Naruto was able to hit the bulls-eyes on targets, starting at 200 meters and up a kilometer after three days of bukijutsu training.

After finishing shuriken and kunai throwing, Naruto spent the next two days working on preparing traps for enemy shinobi. Actually, Naruto was a genius in this regard because of his pranking history which led to him easily being able to think of ideas and put them into action like making ditches and holes, while covering them with foliage to hide their presence. Priming shuriken and kunai to fly at a pinpointed location if a wire was tripped, and have a slingshot full of projectiles ready to launch once triggered by the trap-maker throwing a kunai to cut the restricting wire.

Thoroughly impressed by Naruto's quick progress with bukijutsu, the Kyubi had Naruto work on one last thing, close-range kunai combat. For the next week Naruto practiced how to hold the kunai in combat, backhand style for attacking and forehand style for defense and how to properly perform slashes, stabs, thrusts, parries, and guards.

The final part of Naruto's basic training with the Kyubi was detecting and dispelling genjutsu. After the Uzumaki dispelled the Sakura dream, the Kyubi amped up the genjutsu training, first having the boy practice focusing chakra in his core and releasing it in a burst, while shouting "Kai!" to repel foreign chakra.

Naruto spent a good two weeks working on the dispelling technique until the boy could easily do it at will, even in the heat of combat. Next, the Kyubi subjected Naruto to hundreds of different genjutsu, some having sensory effects to distract you during combat or some that showed you terrible scenes and memories to mess with your emotions.

The Uzumaki spent a month working on being to withstand the effects of genjutsu techniques and how to detect them by sensing small shifts in the flow of his internal chakra network. While the training had excellent results thanks to Naruto's well-trained awareness and preparedness for genjutsu along with the Kyubi's immunity to the art, making the Uzumaki the last person you'd want to try a genjutsu on, it also had a negative psychological effect on the boy.

The nightmare genjutsus that the Kyubi subjected him to were often graphic displays of violence, blood, and killing, desensitizing the Uzumaki to even the most gruesome of deaths, and sometimes the genjutsus replayed the darkest of Naruto's memories from when he was mistreated, humiliated, or attacked by the Konoha villagers.

This caused Naruto to become very stoic, cold, and a little bloodthirsty (unless he was around the Kyubi), a stark change from his noisy and outgoing personality barely three months prior. Also, the boy grew an almost loathing opinion of the villagers of Konoha. Even though Naruto still wanted to become Hokage to change the situation for future jinchuriki, the Uzumaki began to despise the entire population of Konoha, save for a handful, more and more.

All in all however, the Kyubi's training was a complete success.

Uzumaki Naruto was reborn, and the whole world would soon be taken by storm.

" **Bunshin no Jutsu**!" yelled Naruto, forming a single hand-seal and trying to proportion as little chakra as possible.

The entire clearing was engulfed in a massive amount of smoke as hundreds of clones came into existence. Naruto had gotten his amount of clones down from 600 to 450 with this attempt, while a whole lot better, he still had a lot of work to do.

" **Ok… down to 450, gaki. You're getting better but you still gotta work on it. Give it some time."** said the Kyubi.

"Damn it! This jutsu is just plain ridiculous, why do I have so much goddamn chakra?! It makes being an Academy student so friggin' annoying!" growled Naruto, in annoyance.

" **Hey, don't worry about it. You're insane chakra levels are gonna come in handy when learning advanced ninjutsu."** said the Kyubi, trying to allay his pupil's concerns.

"Yeah, I guess." said Naruto, his annoyance receding.

" **Anyway… congratulations, gaki! You're almost finished with Basic Boot Camp!"** congratulated the biju.

"Aw, thanks Kyu… wait… BASIC BOOT CAMP?! ALMOST?!" yelled the Uzumaki, thoroughly confused.

" **Wait… you honestly didn't think I was done with you yet, and that THIS was the hardest training you'd do? Do you not remember who you're talking to?!"** asked the Kyubi.

Naruto looked at the demon fox, praying for the joking grin, but was met only by a serious frown.

" **Before we prepare for Camp Kyubi's Hell number two, you gotta get some reading in. You may be much stronger, but you're still ignorant of the world. So, kid, we're going to the library!"** said the demon fox with an amused grin, before it slowly began tearing down the mindscape.

"Aww please no, Kyubi! You can't be serious! Boot Camp is still going?! AND YOU WANT TO TAKE ME TO THE LIBRARY!? Haven't you tortured me enough?! Have mercy!" whined Naruto.

The Uzumaki was practically groveling at the great beast's feet, begging for some sort of compassion from the fox.

" **No, no I haven't. And mercy? What is this thing called 'mercy' that you speak of? I don't know the meaning of the word! And neither will you when i'm ACTUALLY finished with you!"** replied the fox.

The Uzumaki frantically thought of a way out of going to the library before a lightbulb went off in his head.

"Wait, Kyubi-sensei! I just remembered that I haven't seen the Hokage in three months. I'm supposed to go to him every month to receive my allowance and give a monthly report of my activities." said Naruto, hoping the Kyubi would fall for his excuse.

" **God damn it…"** exhaled the Kyubi.

" **Ok, we'll go to the old man. BUT, you will get the money, give the report, THEN go to the library! And I'm doubling your reading time now because of that little scheme you tried to play on me. Like, come on! Did you honestly believe you could make a plan like that without me knowing? You really underestimate me, kid."** said the demon fox, bearing a wide grin.

" _God damn it…"_ thought the Uzumaki, tears going down his eyes.

The blonde-haired boy trudged to his closet to dress up for his appointment with the Hokage, but as the Uzumaki tried to slip on his combat jacket, he realized that there was a problem.

" _Oh no…"_ thought Naruto, as he tried to force his clothes on.

" **What?"** asked the Kyubi.

"My clothes… don't fit me anymore." said Naruto in shock.

A few moments of silence passed, before the Kyubi burst out in laughter.

" **HAHAHAHAHA! Who knew that the shrimp would actually grow for once? HAHAHA…"** laughed the Kyubi, causing the Uzumaki to redden in anger.

"Screw you, Kyubi! Now what am I supposed to do?" asked the annoyed eleven year old.

" **Well… I guess we can head over to Higurashi's Weapons and replace your gear with some in a bigger size."** said the Kyubi, thoughtfully.

"Ugh… more work!" groaned Naruto, before he slipped on some civilian clothes and packed his ninja gear inside of a paper bag.

Before the civilian clothes were oversized for him, but now with his new height of 5ft even, his clothes actually were perfect for him. Sighing, the Uzumaki headed out of his apartment and took in the view of Konoha for the first time in months, before heading to the Weapon's shop.

After a few minutes of running through the village, the blonde-haired boy stood infront of the shop door, remembering the horrors he faced the last time he came. He prayed something would keep him from using anymore of the little money he had left.

He opened the door and entered back into the house of horrors.

Mr. Higurashi heard the doorbell and upon seeing the blond-haired Uzumaki, he instantly appeared in front of Naruto as if he were royalty.

"Oh, hey! If it isn't my favorite customer?! How may I help you today? Care for some more equipment? It's top of the line!" said Mr. Higurashi, a huge grin on his face.

"Nope! No more equipment! I'm only here to see if i can trade in these clothes for a bigger size." said Naruto.

" _Please tell me i can trade these in for a bigger size…"_ prayed the Uzumaki, fingers crossed tightly behind his back.

" **Before you serve him, sir, I would like to commend you for that excellent execution of 'highway robbery' that you used a few months ago. I have never seen it as beautifully utilized as you did. It was truly an inspiring work of art, and you have my eternal respect."** said the Kyubi, mentally.

" _Kyubi… SHUT UP!"_ thought Naruto, angrily.

"Aw, I was hoping to do business with you again today, kiddo. But yes, I can trade these clothes in for you. Give me one moment." said the shopkeeper, before disappearing behind the counter, in search of the clothes Naruto requested.

"Phew… safety." whispered Naruto, wiping the sweat from his face.

" **Aw man, I wanted him to scam you again…"** said the disappointed biju.

" _Kyubi… SHUT UP!"_ thought Naruto.

After receiving and putting on the new gear from the Weapon's store, the duo quickly made their way to the Hokage's office in the center of town, drawing looks of surprise and disgust from everyone they passed. As Naruto stood before the door of the Hokage's office, he made sure to look at himself in the mirror to make sure he was presentable, took a breath, then walked into the room.

The minute the Uzumaki walked into the room, the old man almost choked on his tea.

He looked straight at the boy, rubbed his eyes, then looked again.

He slapped himself, rubbed his eyes, then looked again.

He picked up his glasses, rubbed them, then looked again..

"Na… Naruto?" the elderly man asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Um… hello, Hokage-sama. How are you today? I wanted to ask for my monthly allowance since I've missed it for a while… would it be okay if I got now?" asked Naruto.

" _What the hell is this? Naruto NEVER calls me Hokage-sama? And what's with those clothes?! WHERE'S THE ORANGE JUMPSUIT?! There haven't been any calls about pranks either in the past two and a half months. It's either that this boy is planning something, or this is not Naruto!"_ thought the Hokage.

"Hmm… before I give you your allowance... 'NARUTO', I need you to answer me three questions." said the Hokage.

"Ok... shoot." said Naruto.

"Name 4 different types of Ramen!" said the Hokage.

"Shio (salt), Shoyu (soy sauce), Miso (soybean), and Tonkotsu, which is technically not a flavor since it contains either soy sauce or salt. It's made from boiling ground up chicken bones in water for 12-15 hours till all the collagen is dissolved into a stock of gelatin." answered Naruto, casually.

"Name 3 different types of office pranks." said the Hokage.

"There's scare tactics, mind games, and the office gremlin, an example is when I put your pens in a thing of gelatin." answered Naruto, with the same casual tone.

"THAT WAS YOU?! WHY I OUGHTA... you know what… whatever… last question. If you're truly Naruto, you'll know everything that has to do with Hokage's and their battles. So, name me the place that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha in their land-altering fight to the death." said the Hokage, thinking he had won.

"The Valley of End, near the border of the Fire Country." said Naruto, in another casual tone.

The Hokage looks the boy over again, satisfied, then walks over to a drawer.

"So, Naruto, what's with the change in getup today? Is this some sort of prank?" asked the aged Hokage.

"No… no more pranks. I've gotten to old for that." replied Naruto.

The old man almost tripped on himself when he heard this.

" _Too old for pranks? Who is this kid?!"_ thought the Third Hokage.

"Anyway, I was wondering where you were. You missed 3 months allowance. Just take it all." said the Third.

"Thanks, Hokage-sama. See you next month." said Naruto.

As the boy walked away, the Hokage couldn't help but wonder what the hell he just saw.

" _Hokage-sama? Too old for pranks?! GROWTH?! What the hell happened over the past 2 and half months?!"_ thought the Third Hokage, before he sat down at his desk and went back to his tea.

" **Alright, gaki, that went well. Time to go to the LIBRARY!"** said the demon with a happy tone.

"You may be happy, but I'm not at all! How am I supposed to even get by the librarian? She hates my life more than any other person here!" whined Naruto.

" **UH my God! Would you like some CHEESE with that whine?! How about you** **Henge** **? I don't think the librarian is a shinobi, is she?"** asked the demon, exasperated with the boys constant attempts to escape the library.

"She isn't but she's still got a killer chop…" grumbled the Uzumaki, defeated once again.

" **Alrighty, then. Get a move on."** ordered the Kyubi.

As Naruto got closer to the library, he transformed into a young civilian girl with brown-hair and glasses. He walks in wearing shorts and a tank top. The librarian barely even notices him pass.

"So, what am I reading today?" asked Naruto.

" **Some books on the entire history of Konoha, from its founding to present day, some chakra theory and application books, a book on the climates and landscapes of the elemental nations, a book on all the different animals and trees in nature, books on famous clans and kekkei genkai, a book on elemental chakra natures and their strengths and weaknesses, and the Bingo Book."** listed the Kyubi.

"Sounds like a lot of work. What's the Bingo Book?" asked Naruto.

" **I should slap you… The Bingo Book is a bunch of entries about the greatest criminals and their feats in the Ninja world, old and new. You need to memorize this so you know who you're fighting and what they're known techniques may be. Pretty much a book telling you how easily these guys could whoop your ass."** said the biju, flatly.

"Oh crap! I should know that!" said Naruto, realizing the strategic and tactical importance of the Bingo book.

" **Yes, you should. Now get cracking before you have to burn some midnight candles."** said the Kyubi, before sitting himself down in his comfortable mindscape and preparing for a nap.

Naruto would probably be here for a while.

(Two weeks later…)

Two weeks soon passed and the young Uzumaki now stood before the gates of the Konoha Ninja Academy at the start of a brand new school-year. At the sight of the place, memories flooded back to the boy, passed failures, insults, rage.

" **Alright, gaki. You're here. You're back. You've spent three months working your ass off practically non-stop. I'm pretty damn sure you've surpassed every student here because of my flawless training. No more being a dobe. No more being the dead-last. No more friggin' class clown! So if you mess this up, I'll mess YOU up, understand?"** threatened the Kyubi.

The boy watched as other student walked passed him, entering their classrooms.

" _No more time for playing. I refuse to fail again. I've worked way too hard for this. Like the Kyubi said, I survived Boot Camp. I trained in ways no normal human could take themselves. This is what I've been waiting for."_ thought the Uzumaki.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy. Lets do this, Kyubi." said Naruto, brimming with confidence.

" **Hehehe… lets."** chuckled the biju.

And with that, Naruto pushed open the doors to his classroom to begin his final year at the Academy.


	4. The Final Year Begins!

Co-Created by: Nwandu225 and oonyekaba

We do not own the rights to Naruto, all credit goes to Kishimoto.

 **A/N (Nwandu225): Here's the next chapter! Reviews and Comments are wanted and needed!**

 **Chapter 4: The Final Year Begins! Naruto's Drive to Get Stronger**

The opening classroom door made a audible creaking sound, and instantly all eyes went to the seemingly unknown student who entered.

"We have a new student?" asked Choji, while munching on some potato chips.

"Who is that guy?" asked Ino, slightly blushing at the student's lean and muscular frame.

"Where did he come from? Troublesome." asked Shikamaru, opening an eye from his nap.

"Why does he look so… familiar?" asked the Hyuga princess, Hinata.

A young black-haired boy in the far right of the class took a single glance at the 'new student' before going back to his staring in space.

"Hello there, new student. I will be your teacher this year. My name is Iruka. What might your name be?" asked the pony-tail haired shinobi.

"Have I really changed that much, Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto, with a slight grin.

" _Wait… that voice…"_ thought the scarred chunin.

"Do I know you, young man?" asked Iruka, now suspicious.

"It's me, Iruka. Naruto Uzumaki." said Naruto, with a raised eyebrow.

The classroom was suddenly encompassed in dead silence for a few moments, before shocked gasps became audible.

"WHAT THE HELL!" roared nearly the entire class, it was like the entire class exploded.

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"THAT CAN'T BE HIM!"

"HE GREW!"

"WHERE'S THE JUMPSUIT?!"

" _Ok, Kyubi, what do you think of the competition?"_ said Naruto to the Kyubi, while eyeing his classmates.

" **Meh. They're meh. The civilian brats are complete trash, most won't graduate and the rest will be weeded out during the Genin bell test. The Uchiha brat is the most skilled, although he seems to be annoyingly arrogant. The Aburame isn't too far behind and the Inuzuka mutt has promise, but he's too focused on taijutsu, something that'll hurt him in the future. We have the lazy-ass Nara that is literally wasting his talent as a strategist and the fat-ass Akimichi that spends more time stuffing his face than honing his abilities. The Hyuga girl isn't terrible, but her lack of confidence and inferiority complex will be a bitch to break. Then we have useless fangirls 1 (Sakura) and 2 (Ino) who spend more time futilely trying to get the Uchiha to notice them than improving their many faults."** said the Kyubi, being honestly blunt.

" _That's a little harsh, while true, don't you think?"_ asked Naruto.

" **Not in the slightest."** growled the Kyubi.

"Are you serious? Are you really Naruto?!" asked Iruka, incredulously.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It's really me, Iruka." said Naruto, with faint amusement.

"This has to be a prank… I just can't believe…" said Iruka.

The young chunin just couldn't wrap his mind around Naruto's changes.

The young Uzumaki had grown at least half a foot in height, bringing him from a shrimpy height of 4 and a half feet to 5 ft even, surpassing that of his classmates. His figure wasn't just skin and bones though, he was blessed with lean, sinewy muscles that seemed to radiate power.

Not to mention his attire, no more… _orange_.

Naruto's attire consisted of a black, high-collared and sleeveless lightly armored combat jacket that was partially unzipped. Black lightly armored ankle-length pants with the same interwoven chain-mail armor as Naruto's combat jacket, black and crimson shin-protectors, and black shinobi sandals. The Uzumaki's forearms and palms were wrapped in white medical tape, all under black finger-less gloves with a metal back-plate and black and crimson forearm protectors.

All in all… a whole new Naruto.

"Ha… no Iruka. No more pranks. I've gotten too old for that now." assured Naruto.

The scarred chunin almost face-planted at Naruto's statement.

Hell... the entire classroom almost face-planted at Naruto's statement.

"I'm not joking. I don't do pranks anymore." said Naruto, completely serious.

"You know what Naruto? Never mind. Just take a seat before I faint." said Iruka, defeated.

Naruto turned from his favorite chunin instructor and sent a final glance to the rest of his astonished class, before walking over to where he normally sits, next to Sakura.

" **Gaki, don't tell me you've forgotten that quickly what we discussed."** said the biju.

Flashbacks of Naruto's attempts of trying to befriend Sakura, and her responses of either hitting him or embarrassing him ran through the Uzumaki's mind, hardening his heart a bit.

"Yeah, I remember." said Naruto, mentally.

The Uzumaki pauses right before he's about to sit down and looks around the room, searching for a new place to sit. Finally he sees an empty chair, next to a small dark-haired girl with white, pupil-less eyes.

" _Huh… Kyubi's right. Maybe I do need a change..."_ thought Naruto, before sitting down at the chair next to Hinata.

" **STRIKE! YES! How did I know he'd go over there. I should be a matchmaker if get bored of this village smashing gig!"** thought the beast, celebrating his accomplishment.

When Naruto seemingly walked over to sit next to her, Sakura had prepared her worst insult for the Uzumaki, waiting to see him crash and burn when she rejected his attempts at befriending her once again.

To her utmost surprise, Naruto turned left, opposite of her direction.

" _Not by Sakura? He's not sitting by Sakura?!"_ thought the class, once again befuddled by the Uzumaki's actions.

Naruto sat next to the Hyuga princess, before putting on his kindest smile.

"Good morning Hinata. How have you been?" asked the Uzumaki.

For a second, it seemed she was going to answer, but then the full realization of what was happening seemed to kick in, and the girl went on a full on stammering fit.

"Na-nana-na-na-nana-nanaa…. Naruto?!" asked Hinata, quickly turning the brightest shade of red.

"Um… Hinata? What's wrong?" asked Naruto, moving a little bit too close.

"Ahh… ahhh. _System shutdown….."_ went Hinata's mind.

And the poor white-eyed girl promptly fainted, right into Naruto's muscular arms.

" _OH SHIT! SHE FAINTED! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?!"_ thought Naruto, in sheer panic.

" **HAHAHA! OH YES! YEEEESSSS! HAHAHAHA! Oh sweet Kami that's beautiful! A work of art!"** roared the biju, in an insane fit of laughter.

The timid Hyuga stirred from her stupor, waking to see Naruto again holding her so close. With that she fainted once more, and a ghost seemed to float out of her nose while smoke rose from her ears.

" _Goddamn it, Kyubi! This was your idea! What the hell happened?!"_ asked Naruto, mentally.

" **HER MIND HAD A MELTDOWN! HAHAHAHAHA!"** continued the Kyubi.

" _I KNOW THAT! NOW TELL ME WHY?!"_ asked Naruto, mentally.

" **Oh Kami! HAHAHAHA! MY SIDES!"** roared the biju in laughter, ignoring Naruto's question.

Three girls got up and took Hinata to the nurse's office, a great start to the first day of school for Naruto.

Iruka started the first day of school with a pop-quiz to see how much knowledge the students retained over the summer.

The young pony-tail haired man looked behind his back every once in a while during the pop-quiz when he was writing down the seminar for the day on the blackboard, expecting to see some sort of prank flying at him as usual.

"Are you really expecting to see a water balloon or something?" asked Naruto, looking up from his quiz, noticing his teacher's paranoia.

"No… No I'm not… just… just finish your test!" said Iruka, still searching the surroundings.

"I'm already done." said the Uzumaki, holding up his finished paper.

The Uzumaki headed to the front of the class and turned in his paper and waited while Iruka graded his quiz.

To Iruka's and every student's utmost surprise, Naruto aced the quiz.

Looks of sheer astonishment flooded the entire class as everyone saw the big, fat A, instead of the expected F on his paper.

"Sorry if I disappointed you all, by not failing." said the Uzumaki, shrugging.

Next came a shuriken throwing test, which Naruto decided to do last.

The civilian children went first, some missed completely, others got one or two in the outermost ring, and a couple got three in the middle ring on the targets.

Shikamaru went next and since he didn't try, he got only got two shuriken in the middle ring, four in the outer ring, and four that missed completely.

Choji went after and got three in the middle ring, five in the outer ring, and two that missed completely.

Hinata went after and got four in the middle ring, and six in the outer ring, missing none.

Kiba followed and got one in the center ring, five in the middle ring, and four in the outer ring.

Sakura was after Kiba, and got two in the center ring, six in the middle ring, and two in the outer ring.

Ino followed and got four in the center ring and six in the middle ring.

Shino was next and got seven in the center ring and three in the middle ring.

Second to last was Sasuke, and the proud Uchiha landed nine shuriken in the center ring and one in the middle ring.

"Alright, Naruto." chimed an instructor, laced with disgust which Naruto caught on to.

"Here are your shuriken." said the instructor, showing a box of ninja projectiles to the Uzumaki.

The blasted things were pretty much destroyed, they were either completely rusted or chipped, as if someone went out of their way to find the most damaged weaponry that they could find.

"Nope, no thank you. It's all right. I came with my own." answered Naruto, with a knowing smirk.

"Hey, Naruto-baka! Ready to get that solid 0 out of 0?" jeered Sakura and Ino, laughing in preparation for his failure.

"Really now?" sneered the Uzumaki, taking out his shuriken from his weapons pouch.

With five shuriken held between each knuckle, Naruto launched all of the projectiles with furious power, speed, and precision. Nine shuriken lined the inside edge of the center circle, with the last sitting in the middle of the shuriken circle, ten perfect bulls-eye marks.

"Wait. I don't think I heard you correctly. You said 0 out of 0, right? Because the 10 out of 10 on the bulls-eye says otherwise." said Naruto, with a devilish smirk.

The fangirls (every girl except Hinata) stood in silence and shock because the baka had just defeated their Sasuke-kun in bukijutsu target practice. Actually, once they realized, the Uzumaki beat **everyone** in bukijutsu practice.

" _I can't believe it! Naruto-baka beat Sasuke-kun in bukijutsu practice?! Last year, that baka couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with a shuriken!"_ thought both Sakura and Ino.

" _Naruto-kun… utterly amazing. One day, I hope I can gain the confidence and skills that you possess."_ thought Hinata, in admiration.

" _What the hell kind of training did this guy do over summer break? Tch… troublesome."_ thought Shikamaru, sighing at the unexpected change of events.

" _Man… we just got wrecked. Who knew the dead-last could actually succeed in something? I guess that means I've got a new rival to surpass."_ thought Kiba, sizing up his newest target to defeat.

" _Naruto… I just can't read you. Were you acting dumb all these years or what?"_ thought Shino, trying to understand the Uzumaki.

" _Naruto… that… that dobe… BEAT me?! What could he have possibly done to get skills like that! No… I can't accept this. I WON'T accept this! I'll find out what he did to become so strong, surpass him, and gain my vengeance on HIM!"_ thought Sasuke, seething on the inside.

" **Ah, lookin' good, gaki! Seems like you got yourself a couple of rivals! Good luck with that!"** congratulated the beast, witnessing the fruits of his fine work.

" _I am awesome, aren't I! Thanks, Kyubi! Look at Sakura and Ino's faces! Priceless!"_ beamed the Uzumaki, prideful over this accomplishment.

"Well… students. It seems the top score for this test belongs to… Naruto." said the instructor who lead bukijutsu, in disgust.

" _Naruto had to have worked his butt off over the summer… I knew he could do it!"_ thought Iruka, happy for his secret favorite student.

"Alright kids, before you go eat, we have one more test for you guys. You're going to do an obstacle course!" said Iruka.

" _Yes! Time for my time to shine!"_ thought Kiba, prepping himself for the challenge.

" _Are you kidding me?! God damn it… so troublesome."_ thought Shikamaru, loathing the idea of movement.

" _The dobe cannot win this! I won't let it happen!"_ thought Sasuke, with determination bubbling within him.

The scar-faced chunin lead the students to the Academy's infamous obstacle course. The training exercise featured tire-jumping, rope-climbing and swinging, tree-branch hopping, wall-climbing, and bear-crawling to test the children's physical abilities.

The average time to complete the course was 10 minutes, and the civilian children's times were pathetic, nowhere near the benchmark.

Shikamaru, stating that the exercise was too troublesome, climbed up one of the trees and promptly fell asleep, much to his classmates' and teachers' chagrin.

After dragging the lazy Nara down from his napping place, Choji went next and finished the course in a time of 9:48, not terrible and not great.

Ino followed, and got disqualified for not wanting to get dirty when she reached the bear-crawling part.

Sakura went next, and determined to do well to gain Sasuke's attention, clocked a 10:12 on the course.

Shino went after and clocked in an 8:23 on the obstacle course.

Kiba, determined to prove his status as an 'alpha', clocked in at a 6:45, before boasting his accomplishment.

Hinata, a bit pumped up after Naruto's achievement on the bukijutsu test, tried her hardest and clocked in an 8:35 on the course.

Sasuke followed, fueled by his desire to not be outdone by the Inuzuka mutt, put his dexterity abilities to the test and clocked in a 6:00, setting a new record and smirking at the angered Kiba.

Last but not least once again was Naruto.

The Uzumaki cracked his knuckles and crouched into a starting position, waiting for the command to go while his classmates and instructors eyed him, some wishing him good-luck, others for failure, and others to see what he was made of.

" **Remember your training… remember Boot Camp!"** echoed the tailed beast, inspiring his pupil.

Naruto smirked slightly, ready to show everyone what he was made of and put the doubters to rest, before bolting forward when the start command was given.

The Uzumaki quickly darted through the tire-jumping exercises, putting his agility training from all of the suicides and dodging exercises he practiced to good use. Next, he grabbed the first of the ropes and swung from one to another like Tarzan, until he reached the last one where he had to climb up to reach the platform that led to tree-branch climbing.

All the strength and stamina training that Naruto did had pushed his muscles to the limit and he was able to power through the exercise without suffering the burning sensation in arms or fatigue.

Once Naruto reached the platform, the Uzumaki jumped off the piece of wood and landed perfectly on the first of the branches, thanks to his mastery of chakra control that kept him glued to the tree and his well-developed leg muscles.

Naruto leaped over several branches at once thanks to his powerful legs, which severely cut down the time wasted from crossing each branch, and stunning the audience because an Academy student shouldn't have had the leg strength to complete such a feat.

"He's about to beat the record…" gasped Shikamaru.

"He already HAS beaten the record…" said Kiba, with a grin.

"GO NARUTO!"

"GO! KILL IT!"

"FINISH THE COURSE!"

"JUMP THAT WALL!"

" **You heard em', gaki. Give the crowd what they want!"** said the biju with a wolfish grin.

" _I'm here to please."_ chuckled the young Uzumaki.

The Uzumaki leapt off the last branch and landed on the ground, before sprinting at amazing speeds to the massive wall to begin the second to last obstacle.

Using his mastery of tree walking, Naruto concentrated chakra to his soles and ran up the vertical obstacle, rather than using the ledges to climb it, much to the amazement of the audience.

After jumping down from the wall, Naruto set his sights on the final obstacle, the bear-crawling in mud exercise and bolted for it.

Ducking under the net that kept the participant from standing, Naruto crawled at speeds comparable to a normal kid when they ran and quickly overcame the mud puddle, before crossing the finish line at last.

"WOOHOO! That was awesome! Great job Naruto!"

"What the hell was that bear crawl?!"

"You ran UP the wall?!"

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

"With a ridiculous time of 4:00… Naruto Uzumaki!" cheered Iruka, with the happiest grin on his face.

The majority of the males in the class and Hinata circled around the Uzumaki, congratulating him on his ridiculously impressive success. Nobody seemed to notice the young Uchiha, fuming to himself.

" _I'm gonna figure out what he did… I HAVE to know!"_ thought Sasuke, growling to himself.

"Alright kids… you all have worked hard today. Get cleaned up, go eat, be back in 30. Class dismissed." said Iruka with a smile, before heading back into the Academy.

" **Hehe. You heard him, gaki. Go get some food. You earned it."** said the Kyubi.

The students streamed into the lunch hall, taking out their homemade meals. Naruto looked around and saw an empty seat again by Hinata.

" **Go ahead. But don't make her faint again, Casanova."** snickered the biju.

" _Kyubi…"_ thought the Uzumaki angrily.

The boy walked carefully to the Hyuga princess' lunch table before opening his lunchbox, and to everyone's surprise, there was no ramen.

"Hi, Hinata. Would it be ok if I sat here?" asked Naruto, with a kind smile.

The girls face instantly flushed a tomato shade of red, as if her brain was preparing for another shutdown.

" _Oh kami, no! Please don't faint! Please don't faint! PLEASE! Don't faint!"_ prayed the Uzumaki, to himself.

"Um… yes. Of… of c-course." said Hinata, stuttering timidly.

The Hyuga princess scooched over a bit so the object of her affections could sit down.

"N-no ramen t-today?" asked Hinata, surprised by the change in food.

"Yeah… probably no more ramen ever. I finally figured out how bad that stuff is for you." said Naruto.

"Oh! T-that's… really n-new for you." said Hinata, grateful for her crush's realization.

"Anyway… are you feeling okay from this morning? I'm really sorry if I scared you or anything." said Naruto, a little despondent.

"O-oh no! I w-was just surprised. I f-faint a little b-bit too easily when I'm s-surprised." said Hinata, trying to explain.

"Ah, that's no problem. Anyway, good job on the obstacle course! You did well!" congratulated Naruto.

"Wait… r-really? Y-you really think so? Umm… well… t-thank you." said Hinata with a joyful blush.

If Naruto had noticed, the girl was positively ecstatic, overjoyed over the fact that her crush was praising her hard work.

"B-but forget a-about me. You f-flew through i-it like it was n-nothing! Y-you beat Sasuke's n-new record by t-two minutes! W-what did you d-do over the s-summer?!" asked Hinata, in amazement.

"You really wanna know?" the blond-haired boy whispered, with mischievous look on his face.

The Hyuga princess meekly nodded, egged on by her crush's teasing.

"Well, lets just say I went to one hell of a Boot Camp over the summer. The training was so brutal that my sensei literally chucked medieval weapons at me during balance training, made me do planks over burning beds of coal, pull-ups over crocodile-infested waters, and he even put me in Genjutsus while I slept! Let me put it this way, I don't recommend it to anyone that wants to live a long, healthy life." said Naruto, with a scared look on his face.

"T-that sounds h-horrible! W-why would y-you do it?" asked Hinata, shuddering at the thought of having to go through Naruto's boot camp training.

The Uzumaki's expression quickly darkened when she said that, and Hinata was afraid that she had touched upon a sore and private subject. However, her crush held up his hand to stop her from apologizing and spoke.

"All my life, I was an idiot. And a useless fool. People hated me, people insulted me, people looked at me like I was the plague. One day, I was sitting on top of the Hokage monument and it all came to me. I had enough. I had to change. I wasn't going to be the knuckle head prankster anymore. What were pranks going to get me when I couldn't even pass an exam? My boot-camp sensei promised me that if I put in the effort, he would make sure I would be ready to ace the Genin test. So I put in my all. I changed myself. And when that test comes around again, I'm gonna walk out that door with a head protector clenched within my hand!" said Naruto while clenching his fist, a fire burning in his eye.

" **I did say that didn't I?"** asked the tailed beast, with his own foxy smirk.

" _Yes. You did."_ answered the Uzumaki, with a slight smile.

The Hyuga princess had never seen such a strong conviction in her life. She knew that Naruto was special when he had protected her from those bullies all those years ago. But his declaration showed perfectly why she loved him. The boy that everyone thought would amount to nothing came back with a vendetta of his own, and he went through all sorts of hell to make sure it would happen.

" _Naruto-kun… I wish that I had even a fraction of the resolve that you possess. You truly are one of a kind."_ thought Hinata, with a proud blush.

"Anyway, that's enough about me. I wanna know about you. What did you do over the summer?" asked the Uzumaki.

"M-me? Y-you… you wanna know about m-me?" asked Hinata in slight shock.

The Uzumaki nodded in response, eager to learn about his newest friend.

"Well my summer was mostly spent with my family. I did do training every once in a while but it was nothing as bad as your boot-camp. I practiced with my older cousin Neji and my younger sister Hanabi."

"Wait hold up, hold up. A: You have a younger sister? And B: Whose Neji?" asked Naruto.

"N-neji's my older cousin. H-he's seen as the p-prodigy of the Hyuga clan, he's m-mastered a lot of the Hyuga's a-advanced techniques and he g-graduated top of his class. H-he's a lot more powerful and a-accomplished than me…" said Hinata, pressing her pointer fingers together while looking at the floor.

"Hey, don't talk down about yourself. Your literally the second best at chakra control in the class, and Sakura isn't even that much better than you! Your taijutsu is pretty solid. Its stance is very fluid and has very little weak points. You just need to be a little more aggressive and you could take out most of the guys!" said Naruto, giving her praise.

"R-really Naruto-kun… y-you think I have s-some potential?" asked Hinata, with wide eyes.

The Hyuga clan constantly belittled and undermined her on a day to day basis. She wasn't used to such praise.

"Not just some! You have a lot! Honestly if I met this Neji guy, even if he knows better techniques, I still think you can become better than him!" said Naruto, giving her a thumbs up.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun." said Hinata with a grateful smile, beginning to come out a little from her shell.

"No problem, _Hinata-chan_." said the Uzumaki, with a wide smile.

From the moment Naruto said that, the Uzumaki could almost sense that something was about to go wrong with Hinata. Her face instantly turned into a bright shade of red and the lunch ladies sighed before preparing a stretcher for her.

" _Malfunction! Malfunction! Emotional Overload detected! System Meltdown…"_ went the Hyuga's mind, before the girl slowly but surely fainted into Naruto's arms once again.

" _GOD DAMN IT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! WHY DOES THAT KEEP HAPPENING?!"_ thought Naruto in panic, once again.

The Uzumaki could soon hear a low snickering coming from his tenant before it began to turn into a full-scale eruption of laughter.

" _Don't you laugh."_ growled Naruto, mentally.

" **Way to go, Casanova."** snickered the fox, trying to level his voice.

" _I'm warning you!"_ threatened Naruto.

" **Not my fault you've become a lady-killer. I should start calling you 'The Vixen Slayer'."** chuckled the beast, miserably failing at his attempt at stop laughing.

" _DAMN IT, KYUBI!"_ roared Naruto.

" **Gehehe… hehehe… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HE DID IT AGAIN, BOYS! HAHAHAHA!"** laughed the Kyubi, giving up his attempt to halt his laughter and letting the hilarious scene run its course.

" _GOD DAMN IT!"_ whined Naruto.

The Uzumaki did his best to try and eat his lunch in dignity over the Kyubi's hysterical laughter, while the lunch-ladies put Hinata on a stretcher and her carried her to the nurse once again.

The rest of the day was monotone for Naruto because there were no more tests for the students to see what the retained and improved on during the summer. All they did was suffer through a boring History lecture, bukijutsu lecture, and tactics lecture that the Uzumaki knew already from either his training with the biju or his reading spree at the library.

Finally at 3:00 pm, class was dismissed and Naruto burst out of the Academy doors ready for the next step of the Kyubi's plans for him.

" _Ok, Kyubi. What's on the agenda for the rest of the day?"_ asked Naruto mentally, slowing down to a walking pace.

" **Before we begin your Advanced training, head over to Higurashi's and pick up some training weights."** replied the Kyubi.

" _Ugh… I'm really not in the mood to get conned by that guy again."_ said Naruto in annoyance.

" **Quit arguing and just do it."** growled the demon fox.

Sighing and resigning himself to his unfortunate fate of monetary loss, the Uzumaki picked up the pace and soon arrived at the weapons store.

As if a tracking device went off, the shopkeeper immediately appeared in front of Naruto the moment he walked in.

"Naruto, my boy! How's it goin'?" asked Mr. Higurashi.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just looking to pick up some training weights." replied Naruto.

"Ah! I have just the thing! Just wait right here!" said the man as he dashed to the back of the store.

" **Let's see what sort of trickery he has for you today!"** snickered the Kyubi, shaking in anticipation.

" _Oh well, I guess Gama-chan (Naruto's frog wallet) is going to lose a few pounds today."_ thought Naruto, sadly.

"Ah, right here! We have a set of chakra-controlled training weights that'll literally MULTIPLY the effectiveness of your training!" said the shopkeeper, holding the bag full of assortments.

"Just quit with the marketing and tell me how much it costs please." said Naruto, wanting the man to get to the point.

"Hmm… probably around... 10,000 ryo." said Mr. Higurashi, with an embarrassed smile.

" _WHAT THE FU**?! DOES THIS GUY MAKE ALL HIS PROFIT OFF ME?!"_ thought Naruto, angrily.

Naruto then heard another low chuckling coming from the biju.

" _I f-ing swear, Kyubi. If you even say a word!"_ thought Naruto, trying to quell his tenant's laughter.

"Why do I need all this fancy stuff? Can I just buy some normal weights and save my wallet some pain!" said Naruto.

"But Naruto, you don't understand! These are so much better! Normal weights while effective can only hold so much before you either have to buy new ones or add-ons to make them heavier, eventually making it more expensive down the line. However, chakra-controlled weights respond to the amount of chakra that you put into the equipment and steadily increase the weight with a greater limit. Not to mention the chakra control practice you get from having to practice proportioning your chakra to make sure you don't set too much or too little weight." said the shopkeeper, trying to convince the Uzumaki.

" **OOH! Gaki, I agree with this one! You need ALL the chakra control help you can get!"** said the tailed beast.

" _Damn it, Kyubi! I don't wanna have my wallet be dying of starvation every time I go shopping!"_ whined Naruto.

" **Well, you got no choice. The minute he mentioned chakra control your fate was sealed."** countered the Kyubi.

"So, we have a deal?" asked Mr. Higurashi, seeing the look of defeat on Naruto's face.

"Yeah, we got a dang deal…" said Naruto, reluctantly handing over the money.

Two, Naruto whine-filled minutes later, the duo were heading back over to the boy's apartment.

" **One question though, who the hell is 'Gama-chan'?"** asked the Kyubi.

"Oh, her? That's my wallet." answered Naruto nonchalantly, as if it was the most normal thing to say.

A moment of silence passed between the two.

" **... You named your wallet?"** asked the Kyubi, face-palming.

"Yep." replied the Uzumaki.

" **The stupid shit you do, child…"** groaned the tailed beast in shame.

"HEY! I not my fault that I got a freakin' demon slapped in my chest when I was a baby! I barely had any friends because of you when I was a kid!" countered Naruto, heatedly.

" **Meh. That's your fault, not mine. Your the one pranking people."** countered the Kyubi.

"I did that to get people to notice me!" yelled Naruto, indignantly.

" **And look how well that worked out for ya?"** replied the Kyubi, with a victory smirk.

"Well you know what?!... Fu-" asked Naruto, before getting cut off by the demon fox.

" **You know people can hear you right since you're not speaking to me mentally?"** said the Kyubi, deadpanned.

" _OH SHIT!"_ thought Naruto in shock.

The boy quickly looked around the premises to see practically the entire neighborhood glaring at him through their windows, some growling about his disturbance while others growling, "Demon brat."

He quickly waved with an embarrassed smile before skedaddling.

" _I really hate you, you damned fox."_ thought Naruto.

" **I am damned, but I love you, too."** said the Kyubi, happy that he managed to ruffle the gaki's feathers.

"So what's next?" asked Naruto.

" **Head to training field 11."** answered the Kyubi.

"Wait, why? Mental training would accomplish far more, and I can bring the training weights with me to the mindscape." asked Naruto, causing the Kyubi to sigh.

" **Kid, remember all the drawbacks that I told you accompany mental training?"** asked the Kyubi.

"Yeah…" said Naruto, wondering what the biju was getting at.

" **The reason why we shouldn't do mental training all the time for too long is because of the short-term damage it does to your brain. Remember you are in the Academy now, you can't risk going to class when your head isn't in the game, or you'll start failing again. Plus, the mental training was meant to get you to catch up to your classmates without the worry of outside distractions, not to be abused."** explained the Kyubi.

"So what was the point of it, then?" asked Naruto.

" **Did you not hear me? I said it was to catch up to your classmates! We are going to still use mental training today and so forth, but we cannot use it for extended periods of time like during the summer because of the mental drawbacks. Therefore we will use Training Field 11 when the mindscape's environment is not needed."** said the Kyubi, exasperated.

Even with all of his physical and mental changes, deep inside he was the same dumbass.

Training Field 11, a massive grassy clearing dotted and surrounded on all sides by thick forest. In the clearing there was a pond to the south-east and elevated parcel of land in the north-west.

Perfect for training.

" **ALRIGHT MAGGOT! I remember you complaining about completing Basic Kyubi's Hell, and before we start, I want to remind you who the HELL you're talking to! Because of that past insolence, Kyubi's Hell Number 2 Will be the most grueling, painful, and unforgiving experience you will ever encounter!"** barked the Kyubi, a blazing and EVIL fire burning in his eye.

"Wait. Boot Camp can be worse?!" asked Naruto, hoping that the Kyubi was just posturing.

" **Are you serious?! Basic Boot Camp was me being nice! I want you to know boy, that saying where they say things can't get worse is a damn lie. Things can always get worse! So for this training, we will be increasing the physical conditioning that you start off with to double, no, triple that of before! When I chuck medieval weapons at you, I'll throw to hit! When I slam you into a rock, I'll slam to break something! When you piss me off, I'll make hella sure that the crocs get you! Understood?!"** growled the Kyubi.

"Sir, yes sir!" squeaked Naruto, shaking in his boots… or sandals.

" **Alright, let's discuss the things you will be working on following your physical conditioning exercises. Now that you have mastered the all the Academy skills, with the exclusion of the Bunshin jutsu, that are required for the Genin exam, it's time for you to learn skills that'll help you in the battlefield."** said the Kyubi, sagely.

"So am I going to learn awesome ninjutsu that'll let me destroy mountains and forests in a single attack?!" asked Naruto, with stars shining in his eyes.

" **No."** said the Kyubi, flatly.

"But you said-" began Naruto, before he was cut off.

" **I know what I said, but you are still not ready for those. Soon, most likely within the school-year, but not now."** answered the Kyubi.

"Aw man… ok then, what'll I be learning?" asked Naruto, a little depressed.

" **First, you'll wear the training weights all the time, when you go to school, sleep, eat, etc. until two weeks pass which I think is long enough for you to gain mastery of the weights with your advanced muscle-healing capabilities. Second, you'll be working on manipulating and concentrating your chakra to a single body-part to enhance the force of your blows and increase your passive abilities. Third, you'll learn a new taijutsu style, one that I made up myself, to decimate your opponents. Fourth, you learn how to withstand killing intent and extend you own, along with mastering my ability to sense negative emotions. Five, you'll continue working on mastering the bunshin jutsu."** said the Kyubi.

"Ok, I understand the weights and the bunshin jutsu, but I don't understand why you want me to learn all the other stuff." said Naruto.

" _ **Oh boy… guess I have to explain everything then."**_ thought the Kyubi, before taking a deep breath.

" **The purpose of mastering the manipulation and concentration of chakra in your body is to enhance your physical abilities. Remember, chakra is supplementary. It's to help you augment your abilities, not just for destroying things (no matter how fun). Say you can cause a small-dent in a tree with the full-force of a haymaker. If you release all of your chakra to spread around your body and then punch the tree, your fist will push straight through the trunk. However, if you take all that power, and in your case A CRAP-TON OF CHAKRA, and concentrate it into your fist, you could destroy massive boulders and create large craters, from ONE PUNCH."** explained the Kyubi.

"Wow…" said Naruto, thinking of the implications.

" **That's not all you get from concentrating and manipulating your chakra. You can use it to strengthen your legs to allow you to jump higher and run faster. You could use it to strengthen your body-parts to deflect or withstand blows. And that's only the tip of the iceberg, but let's move on to the other stuff."** said the Kyubi, to which Naruto could only nod.

" **Next is the new taijutsu style that I created and want to help you master. Taking from the everyday movement of foxes and their cousins, I created an offensive fighting style that requires insane speed, agility, and flexibility, something that you now possess thanks to basic boot camp."** said the Kyubi.

"But why is it better than the Academies taijutsu? And if it's all that you claim, why didn't you teach it to me instead of the Academy basics?' asked Naruto, with a raised eyebrow.

" **It's better because the Academy style is too focused on incapacitating opponents, not killing them, which is dangerous for a high-level shinobi if they didn't finish off their opponent, because they'd have to spend more time beating the snot out of their enemy, rather than just finishing them off with a quick and simple kill move. Also, the Academy taijutsu is too basic and predictable, something that seasoned taijutsu specialists will easily be able to exploit. While the fox-style taijutsu is extremely erratic and unpredictable, using crazy moves at weird angles and insane speed to catch opponents off guard. Although, I wanted you to learn the Academy taijutsu to fix your flaws and get you used to using techniques, before advancing to a more difficult style."** explained the fox.

"Cool. What's the taijutsu called?" asked Naruto.

" _Zan'nin Kiba no Yoko._ (Murderous Fang of the Demon Fox)." said the biju, with a delighted smirk.

"Nice. What of the other skills?" asked Naruto.

" **When you on a mission that encounters enemy shinobi, or sparring against a chunin-level or above opponent, they will be able to release killing intent to immobilize or incapacitate their foe. Killing intent makes you hallucinate, visualizing yourself in the most gory deaths possible and that messes with your concentration. One second of not paying attention is enough time to end up dead, hence why you need to master it. Also, if you learn how to release it yourself, you can overwhelm an opponent and finish them off before they even know it."** said the Kyubi.

"Makes sense, but what about that negative emotions ability that you said you have?" asked Naruto.

" **The nine biju all possess a unique ability that is not usable by the other. Mine is my ability to sense negative emotions. This ability alerts me to the presence of anyone who seeks to do me any harm, like a early warning system. If you master this, then you'll be able to know about an opponent way before they even know you're coming."** explained the Kyubi.

"Wow, that is amazing! I'll become Hokage for sure with that power." said Naruto, in amazement.

" **It'll help, but it won't do any good if you're going to fight someone who is leagues stronger, unless you plan to strategically retreat. So, now that that's over with, let's do a quick session in the mindscape to finish the physical conditioning before returning to the normal world for training on chakra manipulation."** ordered the Kyubi.

"Sir, yes Sir!" yelled Naruto, before activating the mindscape.

" **Good. Now activate the training weights with 500 bunshins worth of chakra and go run me 50 miles!"** barked the Kyubi.

As Naruto got deep into his training, the Hyuga princess walked through the route she took towards the Hyuga Clan Estate. She thought about her wonderful lunch with Naruto, all the praise she received and the kindness he shared. But also, about his work ethic and will. The hell that boy had been put through, the suffering and hatred, and he came back to wow his entire class. He completely changed himself, recreated his entire being to achieve his goals. She only wished that if she could absorb even a nanosized piece of that will, that she could maybe become as strong as he is today.

" _Naruto-kun, I can't wait to see you clutch that head protector in your fist."_ thought Hinata, with a slight blush.

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 **A/N (Nwandu225): Hello readers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it was long and grueling to write. I want to answer some questions that you might have before you write a review or personal message asking about it (I still want lots of reviews on the chapter just not on this topic I'm about to answer).**

 **Question: Will you go into another chapter-long training scene?**

 **Answer: No. Unlike a lot of readers, I actually enjoy reading training scenes as long as they are interesting and explain the meaning to the exercises. However, even I realize that spending chapters on training sessions will cause the story to drag on. So, next chapter will only give a quick telling of what happened but nothing like the detail that was Chapters 2 & 3\. Next chapter will wrap up the Academy year and lead up to the first real fight of my story, Naruto's fight with Mizuki. Stay tuned.**


	5. Author's Note

Author's Note: Hello Readers, I'm sorry to inform you that I will not be continuing this story and I have started new one in fact. Uzumaki Naruto: Jinchuuriki of the Cataclysms and this story are very similar, both have had it with the village's abuse although that story goes more in depth on it and they receive training from the Kyubi. However, in that story I condensed the four chapters that I wrote in here into chapter 1 for my new story so I can get to the cool stuff quicker. I highly recommend that you check it out and I promise you will not be disappointed.


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